Industry Says EPA Rule Will Devastate Tire-Derived Fuel Market; Hurt Environment
An industry association is critical of the US EPA's proposed rule that would redefine scrap tires as solid waste rather than fuel and therefore subject them to more stringent regulation. The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) says that the new rule would significantly increase the pollution control costs of burning tires as fuel which would deter facilities such as cement kilns and industrial boilers from using them. RMA says that rather than helping the environment, the new rule would lead boilers to stop using tires in favor of more costly, less efficient and higher emitting traditional fossil fuels, including coal, which would result in more tires heading for landfills, stockpiles and illegal dumping sites. It would set back by decades an infrastructure that recycles 90% of the 300 million tires generated each year in the US, 52% are burned as fuel, and which has helped to reduce stockpiles of old tires, estimated at a billion tires in 1990, to fewer than 100 million today.
RMA says that EPA lacks the legal authority to declare scrap tires as a "solid waste" instead of a fuel. Even EPA acknowledges that tire derived fuel (TDF) has a long history as a fuel and a higher fuel value than coal (12,000 - 16,000 Btu/lb) resulting in lower emissions. "EPA's proposal turns common sense on its head and would harm the environment while causing potentially thousands of jobs to be lost in the scrap tire industry," said Tracey Norberg, RMA senior vice president...Read More »
Action Carting Completes Purchase of NYC Transfer Stations
Action Carting Environmental Services (Newark, NJ) said it completed its acquisition of two New York City transfer stations from Republic Services. The deal, announced in February, includes transfer stations located in the Bronx and Brooklyn and 10 collection vehicles. It compliments a separate deal to buy privately-held East End Sanitation, Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It was financed by Comerica Bank, and investors Ironwood Capital and Summer Street Capital Partners, LLC., while W.Y. Campbell & Company acted as financial advisor.
The deal will also help Action Carting drive more volume through its Bronx materials recovery facility that opened in June last year. The greater volume is expected to enhance operating margins and the quality of the recycled product...Read More »
Senate Passes Bill to Encourage Pharmaceutical Take Back Programs
The Senate passed legislation that attempts to facilitate the creation of local pharmaceutical take back programs. The aim is to discourage the disposal of unused drugs in waste water systems or their accumulation in the home where they more likely end up in the hands of children. The law amends existing federal policy to authorize long-term care facilities including state and private drug take-back programs to dispose of residents' unused medications without specific approval of the Drug Enforcement Administration as is currently required. The bill, "The Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010," was introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and has the support of 41 state attorneys general, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Department of Justice. It was cosponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Corker (R-TN), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Herb Kohl (D-WI), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY)...Read More »
Advanced Disposal Buys another Florida Hauler
Advanced Disposal Services (Jacksonville, FL) announced its third acquisition in Polk County, Florida in five months. Its latest is The Dumpster Co. provides local commercial waste collection services and comes with a frontload truck, three commercial roll-off trucks, and four routes including customer contracts and containers. Four drivers and one office staff member will join Advanced Disposal's Winter Haven team. Advanced Disposal's other Polk acquisitions include Trash Taxi in March and Accurate Waste Systems in June. In addition to Florida, the company also has operations and serves customers in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and North Carolina...Read More »
Clean Harbors 2Q Revenues Double from Gulf Cleanup
Clean Harbors (Norwell, MA) said that work related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill helped second quarter revenues more than double over last year's. The special waste company said earnings rose to $57.9 million, or $2.19 per share, from $8.6 million, or $0.36 per share, in the same quarter of 2009. Revenue more than doubled to $471.6 million from $215.3 million last year. Clean Harbors said its participation in the Gulf oil spill cleanup exceeded its initial expectations and accounted for more than 20 percent of its second-quarter revenue. Work there included skimming, decontamination, water treatment and onshore cleanup. The company's acquisition of Canadian oil services firm Eveready Inc. also helped its performance. Net income included $2.4 million from discontinued operations and "a favorable release of unrecognized tax benefits." CEO Alan S. McKim said. "Our results in the quarter were driven by the combination of our oil spill response in the Gulf of Mexico and an excellent performance across nearly all of our operating segments." He said the company's cash position of nearly $300 million will enable it to speed up "growth through selective acquisitions and strategic investments." The company now conservatively forecasts 2010 revenue of $1.60 billion to $1.65 billion up from an earlier forecast of $1.40 billion to $1.45 billion...Read More »
WCA Waste 2Q Revenue Up 20% and Swings to Profit
WCA Waste Corp. (Houston, TX) swung to a second quarter profit on revenue that jumped by 20 percent, helped by a rebound from an unusually severe weather in the first quarter. The company also said waste volumes that had been declining were beginning to stabilize, that amid modest price increases, was helping to boost revenue. Revenue for the quarter rose to $60.3 million from $50.2 million last year. Net income rose to $210,000, or $0.01 per share from a loss of $229,000, or ($0.01) per share last year. "Our focus remains on driving growth in our Houston and Ohio markets and maximizing the operating leverage of these assets while creating value for our shareholders," CEO Tom Fatjo said...Read More »
Covanta Names New Chief Financial Officer
Covanta Holding Corp. announced Monday that it has appointed Sanjiv Khattri as its new executive vice president and chief financial officer. He will assume the post on August 16. Khattri, 45, worked most recently as a financial and strategic consultant for major global corporations, private equity firms and hedge funds. His last corporate position was at General Motors Acceptance Corp., where he worked in several positions including chief financial officer and executive director of corporate development. Covanta owns and operates waste-to-energy facilities in the U.S., Europe and China...Read More »
Perma-Fix's Nuclear Waste Services Work Pushes Revenue up 18%
Perma-Fix Environmental Services (Atlanta, GA) reported second quarter revenues that were up 18.6% over last year's, helped by nuclear waste services work. The company earned $1.4 million, or $0.03 per share, on revenue of $28.1 million during the quarter. That compares to earnings of $751,000, or $0.01 per share, on revenue of $23.7 million last year. The company said it won its first direct Department of Energy (DOE) prime contract for Low-Level and Mixed Low-Level Radioactive and Hazardous waste treatment services. The company is also optimistic that its installation of a new proprietary process to treat tritium contaminated waste will lead to more work, particularly from DOE's Savannah River Site in Aiken, SC...Read More »
Industrial Services of America 2Q Profit Surges on Steel Recycling
Industrial Services of America (Louisville, KY) said second quarter profit surged on stronger-than-expected sales of recycled metals and waste-processing equipment. Net income rose 155% to $2.3 million, or $0.36 per share, from $922,000, or $0.17 per share, a year ago. Per share results would have been even better had not the number of shares outstanding increased to 6.5 million from 5.4 million last year. Revenue jumped to $92.8 million from $37.6 million a year earlier. Company officials attributed the higher revenue to a higher volume of ferrous metal scrap sold as a result of a new metal shredder that it installed at its Grade Lane operations in July 2009. Amid the good news, chairman and CEO Harry Kletter was cautious "as certain economic indicators suggest that the current recovery may be slowing."...Read More »
Wastequip Appoints Three New Executives
Wastequip, which recently moved its headquarters to Charlotte, NC, has added three new senior leadership team members including a chief financial officer, chief information officer and a vice president of human resources. The waste equipment company named Steve Svetik as chief financial officer with responsibility for finance and treasury, human resources, information technology and environmental health and safety. He previously held a similar position with Valley National Gases. Rusty Andrews has been named chief information officer. Andrews previously held a similar position at Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and, most recently, senior vice president of hosting and CIO at TITAN Technology Partners. And, Sherri Satterfield has been appointed vice president of human resources. She previously held leadership positions in human resources at SunAlliance and Centex Construction.
Wastequip has 1,800 employees working at various operations in the US and Canada in the manufacture of waste handling and recycling equipment including steel and plastic products to collect, handle and transport waste and recyclables...Read More »
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