Trex Co.’s NexTrex Grassroots Movement aims to expand plastic film collection to partners who receive lower volume drop offs.
As a company built on eco-minded values, Trex Co., Winchester, Virginia, a leading manufacturer of high-performance, wood-alternative decking and railing, is enlisting communities and organizations to partner in its recycling efforts.
The recently launched NexTrex Grassroots Movement provides a turnkey framework for municipalities, universities, nonprofits and other qualifying businesses to serve as centralized drop-off locations for recycling polyethylene plastic film while earning funds for their organizations.
The grassroots movement is an expansion of the successful NexTrex recycling program, a nationwide material sourcing initiative for Trex, which manufactures composite decking from 95-percent-reclaimed material, including a mix of industrial wood scrap and recycled polyethylene plastic film. A large portion of the plastic film used by Trex Co. comes from a network of more than 32,000 grocery stores and retail partners that work with Trex to recycle commercial, industrial and postconsumer plastic film gathered through warehouse and front-of-house collection.
The new grassroots program extends the benefits of Trex recycling to businesses and organizations that may not meet the volume criteria for the company’s commercial recycling program, the company says.
“The goals of our grassroots program are to engage more partners, establish more recycling outlets for consumer collection and to increase overall accessibility to recycling by removing hurdles that prevent the organic growth of local plastic film recycling initiatives,” Trex Co. Materials Sourcing Manager Stephanie Hicks says. “The volume requirements established for our large commercial recycling partners are more than some organizations can attain or handle. The grassroots movement opens the program up to smaller but similarly eco-minded groups. It also expands the program beyond traditional grocery stores and retail drop-off locations, which can be limited in their collection abilities due to store hours or collection bin capacity constraints. By forming alternative partnerships, we hope to engage new and broader audiences in recycling.”
Organizations approved for participation in the NexTrex program can earn funding by serving as drop-off locations where community members can recycle their discarded plastic film packaging. Each grassroots partner is equipped with a baler, which is housed on-site for use in bundling and weighing recycled plastic material. After 20 to 40 bales are compiled (20,000 to 40,000 pounds of recycled plastic film), Trex will pick up and transport the material to its manufacturing facilities in Virginia or Nevada, where it will begin its new life as composite decking. Trex then provides a rebate to its partners for the baled recyclable films, making it a viable source of ongoing funding for business operations or community initiatives.
“The NexTrex program is an ideal example of a scenario where everyone wins,” says Hicks. “Trex wins by sourcing valuable material for our manufacturing process. Our partners win by driving increased community awareness and earning funds for their organizations. And the world wins when we are able to divert plastic waste from ending up in landfills and give it new life in something beautiful and sustainable like Trex decking.”
NexTrex program partners are supplied with everything they need, from instructional videos and promotional materials to free recycling bins and access to professional marketing and public relations support. If needed, Trex will provide upfront financing to help with the purchase and installation of industrial balers for partner locations. Rebate funds earned through material collection can be used to pay off the financing or baler costs, after which partners begin to receive full compensation for all collected film.
“Our partnership with NexTrex has been crucial in keeping LDPE [low-density polyethylene] film and bags in the recycling stream and out of landfills,” Emmet County Recycling Market Development and Commercial Accounts Manager Lindsey Walker says. “NexTrex has also been an outreach catalyst in the sense that other communities and programs are contacting us wanting to learn how we took a problem material—plastic bags—and created a solution via recycling with the best composite lumber manufacturer in the U.S. With good education, outreach … and strong end market relationships, plastic film and bag recycling is possible. Where there is a will there is a way.”
One of the largest recyclers of plastic film in North America, Trex recycles approximately 400 million pounds of plastic waste annually, nearly all of which comes from postconsumer sources such as shopping bags, newspaper sleeves, bubble wrap and package liners along with product overwrap, shrink wrap and stretch film used to palletize boxes, which are collected through NexTrex retail partners and other participating community groups.
Those interested in joining the NexTrex Grassroots Movement can contact the company at recycle@trex.com or visit www.nextrex.com for more information.
Equipment association to host January 2023 AED Summit in Chicago.
The Illinois-based Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) organization is hosting the 2023 AED Summit at the Hyatt Regency Chicago from Jan. 10-12.
AED, which also co-hosts ConExpo-Con/Agg every three years in Las Vegas, says its summit brings together “thousands of professionals” involved in the heavy equipment sector as distributors, manufacturers and service providers. “Each year, more than 500 companies attend and participate in Summit,” AED says.
The organization says dealers attend to find new products to distribute and to network with industry peers while manufacturers meet with their existing dealers and with new potential dealers.
Private meetings rooms can be booked for manufacturer-dealer negotiations while the CONference Dealer EXpo (CONDEX) provides a chance for attendees to meet in a more public setting.
More information on the 2023 AED Summit can be found here.
The company is reporting that its revenue grew to $165 million, 20 percent higher compared with the prior year period.
Rubicon Technologies Inc., a provider of waste and recycling software based in Lexington, Kentucky, has released its financial and operational results for the second quarter of 2022.
In the second quarter, revenue totaled $165 million, an increase of 20 percent compared with $138 million in the second quarter of 2021. The company says revenue growth reflected continued expansion within the company’s existing customer base as well as the addition of new customers. The company says its total cost of revenue is $158,571 compared with $132,247 in the same quarter of 2021.
Gross profit in the second quarter was $5 million, 26 percent higher compared with 2021. The adjusted gross profit in the second quarter was $13 million, 19 percent higher compared with the prior year's quarter. This profit growth was driven by increased service levels with new and existing customers, according to Rubicon.
“Becoming a public company was a tremendous accomplishment and strengthens Rubicon’s market position as we accelerate growth, bring more digitization to the waste and recycling industry, and continue our mission to end waste,” says Nate Morris, chairperson and CEO of Rubicon. “Despite cost inflation pressures across the category, waste and recycling continue to outperform the broader market even with current market challenges. I am so proud of our achievements in the second quarter of this year, and look forward to sharing updates on our progress in the future.”
The company also is reporting total amortization and depreciation of $1,402, compared with $1,989 in the second quarter of 2021.
completing a merger Aug. 16, raising $196.8 million in gross proceeds;
entering strategic data and technology partnership with Palantir Technologies, a software company that empowers organizations to integrate their data, decisions, and operations;
featured in a documentary series produced by Amazon about the company’s transformative work with Santa Fe, New Mexico;
expanded its RUBICONSmartCity customer base with three-year contracts with the cities of Houston and Scranton, Pennsylvania, and announced multi year extension agreement with Tuesday Morning Corp.;
announced multi year agreement with SRS Distribution Inc.; and,
Expanded suite of RUBICONSmartCity solutions with the launch of a new product to optimize municipal snow removal.
Recycling Today has reached out for additional information.
The plan was developed with the participation of about 90 SWANA members and staff who applied strategic foresight techniques to identify changes affecting the industry.
The board of directors for the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, has approved the association’s next five-year strategic plan. Called “Forward, Together,” the plan seeks to increase the labor pool for the waste and recycling industry, improve safety for solid waste collection workers and increase the financial viability of the association.
The board reaffirmed the association’s core purpose to advance the responsible management of solid waste as a resource. The board also recommitted to the 2016-2020 mission statement that emphasized progress by focusing on education, advocacy, safety and research.
“The prior strategic plan set the stage for the remarkable changes and growth SWANA has experienced over the past seven years, including the commitment to focus on waste as a resource,” says SWANA President Tim Flanagan. “The new strategic plan builds on those elements to keep SWANA focused and relevant, as the entire industry moves toward doing more with recovered material, so we put less in the ground.”
The plan was developed with the participation of about 90 SWANA members and staff who applied strategic foresight techniques to identify changes affecting the industry and to develop strategic goals, objectives and strategies to address future needs. The drivers were:
increasing impacts from climate change;
expanding use for technology, artificial intelligence and automation;
expanding value for resources and the circular economy; and
changing norms for meetings and connections.
SWANA’s new strategic plan identifies four goals to focus the association’s work in the coming years:
1. Get off the top 10 list of most dangerous jobs.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, waste collection workers have the 6th highest workplace fatality rate of any occupation in the country. SWANA wants solid waste collection and disposal employees to be 11th or lower on the list of most dangerous jobs measured for 2026 and reported on the U.S. Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and similar Canadian national or provincial/territorial reporting.
SWANA says it will provide resources for employers and work with agencies and partners to support and encourage safer workplaces. It plans to do this through multiple objectives, including developing safety engagement and outreach programs for solid waste facilities and employees that can be widely distributed and encouraged. It also plans to participate in developing temperature standards for employees working in the industry among other initiatives.
“Safety must be implemented and owned by every worker and every employer in this industry every day,” said SWANA Executive Director and CEO David Biderman. “Getting off the top 10 list takes a commitment from all of us.”
Participants in the development of the plan focused SWANA on an outcome that reframes resource management as a critical national infrastructure while elevating efforts to address the effects of extreme weather and consumer items that can damage trucks and facilities as well as harm workers.
The plan also directs SWANA to create an organics management emphasis, both in collaboration with partners and through the provision of updated training materials. Developing an association position on extended producer responsibility is also one of several strategies identified to help implement this goal.
3. Reframe perception of the industry as employers of choice.
The association plans to increase engagement and increase interest in the waste and recycling industry as a career option for students interested in sustainability. The association’s strategies emphasize opportunities to reframe perceptions of the industry through young professional leadership training through collaboration to recruit and train individuals into skilled trade positions. It also plans to improve conditions for everyone by leading in diversity, equity and inclusion.
4. Continue to strengthen SWANA’s infrastructure and financial viability.
SWANA says it grew in size, financial viability and relevance by implementing its previous plan. The Forward, Together plan identifies opportunities to update and strengthen association infrastructure while focusing on changing member needs. Helping members connect with others around more local and/or topic-driven issues will grow membership and strengthen the organization.
SWANA will also focus on professional growth for volunteer leaders and revisit the idea of what it means “to meet” as it emerges from the mostly virtual meetings of the COVID period.
A full version of the strategic plan is available here.
Sources confirm they've been mostly able to name their price on many recovered paper grades, particularly old corrugated containers, with one source calling the situation a "disaster."
Prices for bulk grades in the United States have taken a dive in the domestic and export markets as mills continue to divert tons, with some sources saying they essentially have been able to name their price, particularly for old corrugated containers (OCC).
The Northeast and Midwest regions were hit hard when it comes to OCC pricing, with Fastmarkets RISI’s Pulp & Paper Week for Aug. 5 showing a $20-per-ton decrease, while the Southeast saw a $25-per-ton drop. Mixed paper also sank, with many regions seeing decreases of up to $30 per ton.
Melanie Harman, executive vice president of sales at Recycling Management Resources, headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, says plainly, “Everybody’s hiding because it’s such a disaster in corrugated.”
Harman says about two months ago, the Southeast Asian market, particularly India, had bought lots of tons from the U.S., but before the tons could make it to their destinations, the orders were being canceled on the water. “A lot of international brokers and shippers with goods on the water had to displace, and when that happens, typically you’re discounting, you’re calling in favors,” she says.
In the months that have followed, Harman says displaced inventory from the export market has been coming back into the U.S., which hasn’t been able to absorb it all. “Now, it’s kind of the pick of the litter,” she says. “I can name my price. And by the way, I don’t even need it, so I’m turning it away.”
Harman says she suspects consumer habits have played a role in the state of the corrugated market today. The looming recession has curtailed spending to a degree, meaning fewer goods to ship. She adds that this has created what she describes as “one big overnight explosion.”
Many in the industry were blindsided by how quickly the market turned, but Harman says she doesn’t believe it’s going to change any time soon, despite the upcoming containerboard capacity expected to come online within the year as some of the projects are anticipating potential delays.
According to Cascades Inc.’s second-quarter 2022 earnings report, the Kingsey Falls, Quebec-based packaging producer says its Bear Island mill conversion in Ashland, Virginia, has been affected by the current inflationary environment, adding that higher costs combined with labor and material availability constraints have led to temporary delays in construction milestones.
The total cost of the project has increased to $470 million to $485 million. When the project first was announced in October 2020, the estimated cost was approximately $380 million, and the anticipated startup date was mid-December.
“Our team is working closely with contractors to mitigate any potential delay caused by these elements in order to meet the targeted mid-December 2022 start date,” Cascades President and CEO Mario Plourde said during the earnings call.
Sources contacted by Recycling Today suspect the Bear Island mill likely will start up early 2023.
OCC pricing is a far cry from that of high grades. Sorted office paper (SOP) saw an increase of $10 per ton across the board in the U.S. and up to $20 per ton more in the export market as demand continues to increase for tissue grades.
“When you have the printers consolidating, you’re just not getting that same output of recycled fiber and trim waste from the printers or from the office buildings,” Harman says. “I just feel like the SOP tissue problem was due to consolidation and production that was just turned off. Output is not there.”