Additions to tracked crusher and screener line add efficiency, flexibility for operators.

Metso Outotec is adding two models to its Lokotrack mobile crushing and screening series. The new Lokotrack LT200HPX and Lokotrack LT220GP mobile cone crushers are “compact but efficient units ideal for aggregate contractor customers, bringing up to 30 percent more capacity and added flexibility compared to earlier models,” says the company.

The new models will be displayed during a Metso Outotec virtual studio event on Thursday, Oct. 27 and in what the company is calling its Lokotrack Liveroom 360 “online experience together,” along with services and parts offerings for Lokotrack.

The new models allow customers to choose between two cone crusher types and several optional features based on their needs. The Lokotrack LT200HPX is equipped with a two-deck pre-screen and wide conveyors designed to facilitate high throughput. The model also has a direct v-belt crusher drive.

The Lokotrack LT220GP can be equipped with a pre-screen or with a belt feeder.

“The new models and our end-to-end offering displayed in the Lokotrack Liveroom demonstrate our focus on improving aggregates customers’ operations and bottom line,” says Kimmo Anttila, vice president of Lokotrack Solutions at Metso Outotec. “With these new models of 300 metric tons per hour capacity and 40 metric tons transport weight, the customers have even more choice and flexibility to select from our cone crusher range. Lokotrack is a sustainable and future-proof choice for any type of aggregate production.”

On its website, the company says its Lokotrack line has been manufactured by Finland-based Metso Outotec since 1985, with the mobile crushing and screening plants “widely used in aggregates production and recycling applications around the world.”

The Oct. 27 studio events and the ongoing Lokotrack Liveroom information can be found on this web page.

A group of stakeholders drafted model legislation to ensure minimum postconsumer recycled-content requirements for glass in food and beverage containers that can be used by state legislators.

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC), Brattleboro, Vermont, is requesting public comments for the Draft Glass Minimum Postconsumer Recycled Content Model Legislation.

According to a news release from NERC, a diverse group of stakeholders worked together to develop the draft model legislation for minimum postconsumer recycled-content requirements in glass food and beverage containers and fiberglass insulation. NERC says the model legislation is intended for legislators to use as a starting point to develop legislation requiring the use of postconsumer recycled glass in specified products sold in their states.

NERC says the main goals of the legislation are to incentivize the markets for recycled glass, improve the economics of recovering rather than disposing of valuable material and reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing. The model legislation promotes the expanded use of postconsumer recycled glass in manufacturing new products, motivates further development of markets for postconsumer recycled glass and reduces discarded glass disposed of as waste.

More than 60 workgroup members helped NERC to draft the model legislation. NERC says workgroup members included brands, glass container manufacturers, fiberglass insulation manufacturers, glass recyclers and beneficiators, industry associations, distributors, retailers, haulers, material recovery facility operators, state environmental agencies, state recycling organizations and environmental advocacy groups.

Workgroup chairs who led the discussions included Chris Nelson, supervising environmental analyst of the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, and Stephen Burm, director of state government affairs at Anheuser-Busch, with technical help from Ed Ferguson, director of sustainability at Anheuser-Busch.

A webinar will provide more details on the draft model legislation Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. EDT. Comments and suggested edits can be made via an online feedback form. NERC reports that additional comments may be emailed to Mary Ann Remolador, assistant director of NERC, at maryann@nerc.org. The public comment period for the draft legislation is open until Nov. 11 at midnight EST.

Through the acquisition, Waste Pro has received two roll-off trucks and 50 roll-off containers.

Waste Pro, a waste hauler based in Longwood, Florida, has announced the acquisition of Coastal Disposal in Ocala, Florida. Services offered by Coastal Disposal include construction dumpster rental, landscape and yard waste dumpster rental, garage cleanups, bulk trash removal and junk removal dumpster services.

According to a news release from Waste Pro, the company has obtained two roll-off trucks and 50 roll-off containers. Customers can rent them to remove construction debris, yard waste, garage cleanouts and bulk items. The containers range from 10 to 40 yards in size.

“We’re excited to bring Coastal Disposal into the Waste Pro family,” says Erik Sankey, vice president of the Central Florida division of Waste Pro. “This allows us to further expand our service in the Ocala market as we continue to grow.” 

Customers can contact Waste Pro’s Ocala Division at 352-624-3100 for more information on equipment rental.

The companies seek to improve packaging circularity and address waste challenges in the food industry.

Starbucks and McDonalds, the founding members of Closed Loop Partners’ NextGen Consortium, have committed $10 million to continue the consortium’s work in foodservice packaging solutions. Additionally, the Coca-Cola Co. increased its commitment to participate in the consortium as a sector lead partner, and JDE Peet’s, Wendy’s and Yum! Brands will continue to participate as supporting partners.

The consortium plans to use the $10 million to deepen customer research, test reusable packaging systems, explore the circularity of additional packaging materials like polypropylene (PP) and accelerate the development of more widely recyclable and compostable fiber-based packaging solutions. The consortium will also look at infrastructure pathways needed for packaging recovery.

According to a news release on this investment from New York-based Closed Loop Partners, Starbucks and McDonald’s hope that their investment will help to identify, accelerate and scale commercially viable packaging solutions with the investment.

“Over the last three years, the NextGen Consortium has demonstrated that working together as an industry helps accelerate sustainable change and is paving a clear pathway forward for the industry to scale packaging solutions that can benefit the planet and the communities we serve,” says Marion Gross, senior vice president at McDonald’s North America. “Knowing that industrywide collaboration is essential to creating lasting, scalable impact, we invite others to join us in this important work to advance solutions and eliminate packaging waste.”

“Starbucks’ work with the NextGen Consortium has been an important part of our ongoing efforts to reduce single-use cup waste, part of our larger goal to reduce waste sent to landfills by 50 percent by 2030,” says Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer at Starbucks. “There has never been a more critical time for industry collaboration to shift away from single-use packaging, promote reusability and champion recyclability.”

Closed Loop Partners reports that its NextGen Consortium wants to increase its focus on PP due to growing demand for recycled PP in foodservice packaging and the need to optimize recycling infrastructure to capture the material. In 2020, the NextGen Consortium joined The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition as a steering committee member, collaborating to allocate millions of dollars in grants to recycling facilities to improve PP recycling.

Since 2018, the NextGen Consortium has worked to advance sustainable packaging and recycling infrastructure to help end foodservice packaging waste, initially focusing on redesigning the single-use fiber cups. The group launched the NextGen Cup Challenge, which sourced 480 solutions globally to redesign the cup, selecting 12 winning solutions across three areas, including cup and cup liners, new materials and reusable cup service models. Additionally, the NextGen Consortium’s Circular Business Accelerator supported six teams to help test and refine their solutions.   

In 2019 and 2020, the six Circular Business Accelerator teams executed tests at a large tech company’s campus with four solutions, including two reusable systems, moving to the pilot phase across 14 local, independent cafes in the San Francisco Bay area. The NextGen Consortium also conducted lab and commercial-scale tests to evaluate the performance, recyclability and recoverability of the fiber cup solutions. 

Moving forward, Closed Loop Partners reports that the expanded commitment of the NextGen Consortium will continue to work across the value chain with global brands, municipalities, recyclers and manufacturers to advance viable market solutions that scale throughout the supply chain and bring value to recovery systems.

Closed Loop Partners and Canusa Hershman both helped to finance the new facility.

The Cumberland County Improvement Authority (The Authority), Millville, New Jersey, has opened a 12,000-square-foot material recovery facility (MRF) that it has named New Leaf. The MRF is located within the Solid Waste Complex of The Authority on Jesse Bridge Road in Millville. The MRF will focus on sorting, baling and shipping to market recyclables from The Authority’s single-stream county recycling program.

The Authority has teamed up with New York-based Closed Loop Partners and Baltimore-based Canusa Hershman to finance New Leaf. The companies did not disclose how much they invested in the new MRF.

According to a statement from Canusa Hershman, that company plans to market all outbound materials produced at New Leaf.

According to a news release from The Authority, the New Leaf MRF will enable nearby communities to manage materials locally through small-scale recycling units. The MRF’s recycling units were manufactured by Denver-based Revolution Systems. Canusa Hershman says this is the first MRF on the East Coast to use a Revolution Systems unit. 

The Authority says the recycling units are less capital intensive than units found in traditional large-scale recycling facilities. They feature a revolving table that helps the sorting process. The design enables multiple chances at recovery, enabling the MRF to capture recyclables that otherwise might escape the initial sorting process.

“Enhancing local recycling capabilities enables the community to benefit from new revenue opportunities, a healthier environment and new jobs,” says Ron Gonen, founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners. “We’re proud to work with The Authority and Canusa Hershman to accelerate a more modern, resilient future for recycling, rethinking the status quo and championing new designs and local, small-scale facilities. This will be a critical part of building a more circular economy that keeps valuable materials out of nature and landfills and in manufacturing supply chains.”

According to The Authority, the New Leaf MRF receives an average of 65 tons of recycling material per day and has the potential to scale up in anticipation of future growth in the county. The MRF operates on-site at The Authority’s Solid Waste Complex, deriving its energy from gases harvested from the landfill also located on-site. The Authority says New Leaf helps to localize MRF operations, eliminating the need to transfer recyclables to another MRF outside of the county.

“It’s been our mission to protect the local environment and simultaneously to improve the economic viability of Cumberland County,” says The Authority president and CEO Gerard Velazquez III. “The MRF fulfills both aspects of this mission elegantly, and we believe that it demonstrates a willingness to chart our own course toward a better future.”