A joint effort by Georgia Power’s Plant Bown and Eco Material Technologies calls for as much as 9 million tons of coal ash to be recycled from the plant at a rate of 600,000 tons per year once work starts in 2024.

Georgia Power Co., Atlanta, has announced a new coal ash beneficial use project at Plant Bowen near Cartersville, Georgia, where millions of tons of stored ash will be excavated for use in concrete to construct bridges, roads and buildings in Georgia and throughout the Southeast.

The project will be the single largest project of its kind in the U.S. and the largest ever for Georgia Power, which is partnering with Eco Material Technologies, South Jordan, Utah, on the project.

"Georgia Power is always researching and exploring new and innovative ways to reuse coal ash that are beneficial to our customers and our communities. Finding and securing these opportunities to beneficially use coal ash will not only reduce and save space in landfills but will also serve as a financial tool to help offset the cost of ash pond closures for our customers," Georgia Power Vice President of Environmental Affairs Aaron Mitchell says. "As the largest project of its kind in this country, this project at Plant Bowen is historic for our company and our entire industry, and we see the potential to expand beneficial use projects further in the future."

Eco Material Technologies, a producer of sustainable cementitious materials and cement replacement products, will manage the project at Plant Bowen, including the end-use of the excavated coal ash. Coal adds strength and durability to concrete. Reusing stored coal ash also helps reduce the need for raw materials otherwise used in production.

"As the largest partnership of its kind in the U.S., this project will not only use material from landfills and ash ponds, but also keep millions of tons of CO2 from going into the atmosphere," Eco Material Technologies CEO Grant Quasha says. "The harvested material will be used in concrete to make stronger and longer lasting bridges and roads and serve as a model for helping forward-thinking utilities like Georgia Power and Southern Co. close landfills and ash ponds while building a greener and more sustainable planet."

Today, Georgia Power recycles 85 percent of all ash and gypsum, including more than 90 percent of the fly ash it produces, for various sustainable uses such as concrete production, as well as other construction products.

Georgia Power continues to seek opportunities to recycle coal ash stored at active and retired power plants across the state. This will allow the company to partner with qualified participants, such as Eco Material Technologies, to ensure innovative and cost-effective solutions are selected as part of ash pond closures to benefit Georgia Power customers.

"As concrete manufacturers continue to work to achieve carbon neutrality in production and power companies seek modern and innovative solutions for beneficial use of coal ash, this voluntary project in Georgia is a model for the industry, directly responding to both market and environmental needs," American Coal Ash Association Executive Director Tom Adams says. "With the nationwide focus on improving American infrastructure, including roads and bridges, demand for materials continues to outpace available supply, and collaborative projects such as this will be critical to bridging that gap in the future."

Coal ash removal at Plant Bowen is expected to begin in 2024 and increase to 600,000 tons of ash removal per year from the ash pond and landfill at the plant. Organizers expect to remove a total of 9 million tons of coal ash.

Jeanette McMurtry has worked for SaaS companies, Fortune 500 brands like Sony, Xerox, American Express and more.

Denver-based Starlight Software Solutions, a software solutions firm serving the waste management and recycling industry, has appointed Jeanette McMurtry as chief marketing officer.   

McMurtry joins Starlight Software Solutions as the company says it poises for rapid growth due to the completion of its cloud-based system designed to serve the hauling and recycling sectors. This includes roll-off dumpsters to the commercial, residential, portable toilet and municipal reporting.  

Starlight says it offers a robust suite of software as a service (SaaS) solutions that accelerate efficiency across dispatch, inventory, route management, customer and contractor change orders, driver productivity and more.  

“Jeanette brings a new level of marketing expertise to Starlight, helping us strengthen our brand as well as our lead generation and sales processes,” says Bill Bradley, CEO and founder of Starlight Software. “Her ability to create and drive winning marketing strategies and campaigns has quickly boosted our pipeline and set us up to exceed our growth goals for 2022 and 2023.”  

McMurtry’s background includes marketing strategy, campaigns and execution. She has worked for SaaS companies, Fortune 500 brands like Sony, Xerox, American Express, and more. Starlight says she has helped companies double sales revenue in short order and increase lead generation and account value. 

The company says her success is rooted in her approach to psychology-based marketing, which is the focus of her prior public speaking career, 15-year monthly marketing column and three international books published for Wiley and McGraw-Hill. She is the author of Marketing for Dummies fifth edition, released in 2017, and the sixth edition, which will release in the fall.  

“One of the most fulfilling aspects of my career is working with highly talented, innovative teams to bring new and needed products to market," says McMurtry. “I am honored to be part of Starlight Software Solutions and help accelerate growth for one of the most robust products in waste management that is a true game-changer for the entire industry.  

For more information about Starlight’s suite of software solutions, click here.   

Ismael Daneluz brings more than 17 years of management experience through previous roles at Palfinger locations in Brazil, Austria and Spain.

Ismael Daneluz will join Palfinger’s North America region in the role of vice president of sales and service. Daneluz will be responsible for developing strategic sales plans that will promote sales growth and customer satisfaction for the organization, as well as target specific market segments and geographic locations.

Daneluz is currently vice president of sales and service for Palfinger in Latin America (LATAM) and will continue to be a member of the Latin American leadership team in a dual role.

He has a degree in business administration, with specializations in marketing and strategy, and holds an executive master’s in corporate finance and law from ESADE Business & Law School. Daneluz brings more than 17 years of management experience through several roles at Palfinger locations in Brazil, Austria and Spain. These roles include sales and business development, corporate strategy, project management, finance and purchasing.

In 2018, Daneluz became the managing director of Tim Hortons Iberia, and rejoined the Austria-based Palfinger Group a few years later, where together with the LATAM regional team he drove significant growth in the region with record sales and EBIT performance.

“In addition to his broad management experience, Ismael has an excellent understanding of our industry and the strong network within Palfinger. He is very well equipped to lead all commercial activities, drive brand positioning and sales growth in the North American region, together with the regional management team and strongly supported by our global Palfinger organization structure,” says Gerhard Sturm, senior vice president of global sales and service for Palfinger. 

Invigorate Additive, Invigorate Topical and Peak 301 are now in the BioPreferred Program Catalogue, a source of information for federal agencies that are part of a mandatory purchasing plan.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has accepted three soy-based additives created by Colorbiotics, Ames, Iowa, into its BioPreferred Program, which is intended to encourage wider use of biobased, sustainable products across the country.

Invigorate Additive and Invigorate Topical are both used in asphalt paving applications, and Peak 301 is an additive designed to revive and protect asphalt shingles, says the company in a press release.

 “We’re excited to get this stamp of approval from the USDA because it really hammers home the concept of green chemistry used within Colorbiotics,” Colorbiotics Product Manager Austin Hohmann says. “We are committed to products that are good for the planet and even better for the bottom line. That is why we work primarily with soybeans and other natural ingredients.”

Among the perks of qualifying for the BioPreferred Program is inclusion in the USDA’s BioPreferred Program Catalogue, which is a source of information for federal agencies that are part of a mandatory federal purchasing plan. All three products are listed on the USDA’s catalogue.

Colorbiotic has received certification for Invigorate Additive, Invigorate Topical and Peak 301 “allowing them to display the USDA Certified Biobased Product label on the product,” the USDA’s website says. “This label assures a consumer that the product contains a verified amount of renewable biological ingredients (referred to as biobased content). Consumers can trust the label to mean what it says because manufacturer's claims concerning the biobased content are third-party certified and strictly monitored by USDA.”

To be eligible for the BioPreferred Program, products must be comprised “wholly or in significant part” of biological matter, says the company. Third party testing indicated that Invigorate Topical and Peak 301 are made of 96 percent biobased content, and Invigorate is comprised of 100 percent biobased content.

The company says its third-quarter performance benefited from strong global demand for recycled metals.

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc., Portland, Oregon, has released financial results for the third quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, which ended May 31. The company calls the results the best third-quarter earnings in its history.

The company says its third-quarter performance benefited from strong global demand for recycled metals and robust West Coast market conditions for finished steel products. This was reflected in higher average selling prices for ferrous, nonferrous and finished steel products. Average ferrous and nonferrous selling prices in the quarter were at or near multiyear highs, while average finished steel selling prices were the highest on record.

“Our record results this quarter reflected excellent operational performance during a quarter marked by strong movements in demand and prices, reflecting both short-term disruptions and underlying positive structural trends supporting increased use of recycled metals in manufacturing,” says Tamara Lundgren, chairperson and CEO of Schnitzer. “At the end of April, we acquired the assets of Encore Recycling in Georgia, including our first metal shredding operation in the Southeast, which increases our Southeast regional footprint to 24 facilities across five states. We expect this region to see an increase in steelmaking and in auto and industrial manufacturing in the coming years.”

The company is reporting net income of $76 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $119 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2022. This reflected significantly higher year-over-year average net selling prices for ferrous, nonferrous and finished steel products.

Schnitzer says the strong performance is because of year-over-year sales volumes increasing for nonferrous metals and an expansion in metal spreads on certain ferrous sales contracted before the market price declines that occurred during the end of the quarter. In addition, contributions from recent acquisitions and productivity initiatives helped to partially offset inflationary pressure on operating costs. The benefit from average inventory accounting was approximately $4 per ferrous ton in the quarter compared with $7 per ferrous ton in the prior-year quarter.

According to the report, ferrous sales volumes were up 5 percent sequentially, supported by contributions from acquisitions, but down 7 percent year-over-year arising from the impact of market volatility on demand in the second half of the quarter, which delayed contracting and shipping bulk cargoes. Nonferrous sales volumes were up 29 percent year over year, benefiting from strong global demand and an easing of supply chain and logistics disruptions. Average ferrous and nonferrous net selling prices were up year over year by 35 percent and 15 percent, respectively, supported by strong global demand.

Finished steel sales volumes were down year over year by 12 percent, reflecting ongoing logistics challenges, but up sequentially 27 percent as sales volumes benefited from an improvement in supply chain disruptions and the resolution in April of the Seattle concrete industry drivers' strike. The mill achieved an average utilization of 96 percent in the quarter. Average net selling prices for finished steel products increased year over year by 41 percent.

Schnitzer reports that operating cash flow in the quarter was $45 million, as cash flows associated with profitability more than offset the increase in working capital resulting primarily from the higher price environment and inventories. Capital expenditures were $29 million in the quarter, including investments in advanced metal recovery technologies, and maintaining the business and environmental projects. Total debt at the end of the quarter was $322 million and debt, net of cash, was $306 million.

Schnitzer says the increase in debt in the third quarter was primarily driven by the acquisition of the assets of Columbus Recycling and Encore Recycling and higher working capital.

During the third quarter, the company returned capital to shareholders through its 113th consecutive quarterly dividend and the repurchase of 243,792 shares, or 0.9 percent, of its Class A common stock in open market transactions under its authorized share repurchase program.

“The use of recycled metals, which require less carbon to produce than mined metals, provides an important solution for companies, industries and governments that are focused on carbon reduction and are committed to reducing material directed to landfills," Lundgren says. "Our investments in advanced metal recovery technology systems and the expansion of our operating platform are providing us with recycled ferrous and nonferrous products that can serve this increasing demand.”