Nucor Steel Lexington is expected to cost about $350 million and have an annual capacity of 430,000 tons.

Nucor Corp., Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced plans to build an electric arc furnace, or EAF, rebar micromill in Lexington, North Carolina, in Davidson County.  

This will be Nucor's third rebar micromill, joining existing Nucor micromills in Missouri and Florida, both of which began operations in 2020.  

Nucor has 15 bar mills that it says are strategically located across the U.S. that manufacture a broad range of steel products, including concrete reinforcing bars, hot-rolled bars, rounds, light shapes, structural angles, channels, wire rod and highway products in carbon and alloy steels. Four of the bar mills have a significant focus on manufacturing special bar quality, or SBQ, and wire rod products. Steel produced by Nucor bar mills serves numerous end-use markets, including the agricultural, automotive, construction, energy, furniture, machinery, metal building, railroad, recreational equipment, shipbuilding, heavy truck and trailer market segments. Nucor's steel bar production capacity is estimated at approximately 9.56 million tons per year.

The company says the mill will employ 200 full-time workers when operational and create an additional 500 temporary jobs during construction, which is expected to take two years, pending permit and regulatory approvals. 

"We are very excited to grow our steel business here in our home state of North Carolina,” says Leon Topalian, president and CEO of Nucor. “The corridor between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing regions in our nation, and new federal spending for infrastructure will further increase demand for rebar in the region.” 

Topalian adds that the mill will produce steel with nearly 100-percent-recycled content. Currently, Nucor steel bar products contain 97-percent-recycled content. 

"We would like to thank Gov. Roy Cooper, Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders and other state officials, Davidson County, Lexington and Thomasville for their help and support of this project,” says Mike Hess, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Lexington.  “We are excited to grow our Nucor family in this area and to partner with local schools and non-profit organizations that support members of this community." 

Last year, Nucor announced it was looking at the South Atlantic region to construct a rebar micromill with spooling capabilities.  

“We have recently executed two successful rebar micromill startups and believe the East Coast market will be in need of additional rebar supply in the coming years, particularly with the recent passage of the infrastructure spending bill,” Topalian said previously. “Rebar has been a core business for Nucor since we got into steelmaking, and this project will enable us to maintain our leadership position in the rebar market.” 

Luke Walker brings more than 20 years of experience in developing startups and early-stage companies.

Starlight Software Solutions, a Denver-based software company for the waste and recycling industry, has announced the addition of Luke Walker as vice president of corporate development and sales operations.

Walker brings more than 20 years of experience in developing startups and early-stage companies. His accomplishments include securing $500 million in funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service to build wireless 4G networks throughout rural America. Additionally, he has held positions with telecom carriers, original equipment manufacturers and property groups and introduced new technology solutions for various design engineering teams.

At one point in his career, he was vice president of delivery at SAC Wireless, a Nokia company, where he was responsible for construction for T-Mobile in the central, south and western regions of the U.S.

Starlight, which provides software solutions for solid waste haulers and recycling facility managers, aims to improve profitability and overall business growth by monitoring and analyzing key metrics live and making real-time functional and operational changes that dynamically improve efficiencies. In Walker’s role at Starlight, he will oversee investor and customer success while expanding revenue streams and strengthening financial sustainability.

“Luke is an invaluable member of our development and executive team [and is] already helping us better streamline our processes and work more efficiently, which is precisely what our solutions do for our own customers,” Starlight CEO and founder Bill Bradley, CEO says. “Our company is on a strong growth trajectory, and we are excited to have Luke’s expertise to keep propelling us forward.”

The Committee on Environment and Public Works also advanced the nomination of the EPA Office of Solid Waste assistant administrator.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has voted to move the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act of 2022 forward. The bill would establish a pilot rural recycling program at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  

Various organizations in the waste and recycling industry have voiced their support for the bill, including the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington.   

“SWANA is very pleased that the Senate EPW Committee is taking further action to support recycling,” says David Biderman, SWANA executive director and CEO. "We agree that rural communities often lack access to recycling services and this bill will provide federal support that will help expand the collection of recyclables. We urge Majority Leader [Chuck] Schumer to bring this bill to the Senate floor for prompt consideration.”  

The bill’s pilot program approach will provide current information about rural recycling systems that will be connected to customized solutions for all states and localities. Grants from the EPA ranging between $1 million and $15 million would make programs more accessible for local communities and pave the way for replication in numerous areas.  

“It represents the first substantial attempt to address the shortcomings of recycling for rural and underserved communities in the U.S. through innovative pilot projects and effective funding mechanisms to better serve these communities,” says Billy Johnson, ISRI chief lobbyist in a statement.  

During the same meeting, the committee also voted to move forward with the nomination of Carlton Waterhouse as assistant administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management of the EPA.   

The plan calls for reducing waste, increasing materials recovery and ensuring sustainable materials management practices.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released its strategic plan for the fiscal year 2022 through 2026. The agency plans to develop a stronger, more resilient and cost-effective U.S. municipal solid waste recycling system and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by putting an emphasis on a circular economy.  

“This Strategic Plan deepens EPA’s commitment to protecting human health and the environment for all people, with an emphasis on historically overburdened and underserved communities,” the agency said in a statement.   

The first part of the plan includes updating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’s (RCRA's) solid and hazardous waste regulations. While it’s unclear what the agency will change, it says it will develop outreach and guidance to help stakeholders implement the requirements. The EPA says its overall goal is to increase the percentage of updated permits at RCRA facilities to 80 percent from the FY 2021 baseline of 72.7 percent.   

The EPA says it will collaborate with federal, tribal, state, local organizations and other stakeholders to develop additional strategies for food waste and the built environment that meet its recycling and food waste reduction goals of 50 percent by 2030, respectively.  

“Investing in domestic recycling, as well as solid waste and food waste infrastructure that supports a circular economy, will help resources maintain their highest and best use and reduce GHG emissions,” the agency said.  

Batteries and other products with critical minerals are another point of interest for the agency. The EPA says it will work with public and private sector partners on strategies to increase the circularity and recycling of these materials to secure supply chains for critical minerals.  

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has submitted a proposal to increase the agency’s budget for the 2023 fiscal year. The agency says the increased budget of $11.881 billion, $1.5 billion from last year, would help it achieve its goals laid out in the Strategic Plan for the fiscal year 2022 through 2026.  

“Almost half of the budget ... will support tribes, states and localities, reaffirming the EPA’s commitment to work in concert with our partners and local communities to tackle the climate crisis and ensure that no American family has to worry about the air they breathe, the water they drink or the environmental safety of their homes and workplaces,” EPA  Administrator Michael S. Regan says in a statement about the proposal. 

Austrian plastic recycling equipment maker breaks ground on 16,000-square-foot facility.

Austria-based plastic recycling equipment producer Erema Engineering Recycling Maschinen u Anlagen GmbH is building a 16,700-square-foot research and development (R&D) center at its main campus in Ansfelden, Austria. Completion of the project is scheduled for next February.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the site April 6 for two buildings with nearly 16,700 square feet of space that will include office space for some 50 people. “The R&D center will offer cross-departmental and cross-company test machines and laboratory for research and development of plastics recycling technologies to further advance the circular economy,” the firm states.

“Plastics recycling is currently evolving very rapidly from a niche to a trend,” Erema says, adding, “this is driven by the legislative targets for plastics recycling that the European Union and many countries around the world have enacted, as well as by the European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent and in which the circular economy plays a very central role.”

The company says there is not just one recycling solution for different types of plastic scrap but rather different ones depending on the type of plastic, the product and the application intended for the recycled plastic.

“It makes a difference whether clean production waste is recycled and returned to the production process or whether printed and contaminated packaging materials collected in yellow bags are recycled and used to make food packaging again,” says Markus Huber-Lindinger, managing director of Erema.

“While some plastics processing loops, such as for PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles, have already been closed, many other plastic waste streams still require a great deal of R&D in cooperation with everyone involved in the value chain to produce recycled pellets that meet the very highest standards for the production of new products,” says Huber-Lindinger. “More space will be available for this in the new center.”