Aug 30, 2021

Revolution acquires Five Points Film Five Points Films is a regional manufacturer of cast hand and machine stretch film. Revolution, a manufacturer focused on processing recycled resin that is based in Little Rock, Arkansas, has acquired Five Points Films, which is a regional manufacturer of cast hand and machine stretch film for commercial customers. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Five Points Films began operations in 2014 at its headquarters in Shelbyville, Tennessee. According to a news release from Revolution , Five Points Films recently made a multimillion-dollar investment in new production equipment that is projected to add 35 percent more capacity to its operations by the end of this year. Five Points Films has a team of about 50 employees. Revolution says it plans to keep all Five Points Films employees and executives on its team. With the Five Points acquisition, Revolution plans expand its presence and apply its circular approach to the stretch film market. The company adds that stretch film is a category that has “long been in need of more sustainable solutions.” Revolution aims to incorporate more postconsumer resin into Five Points Films' stretch film products as a result of the acquisition. “ Five Points is a truly impressive business grounded in a strong company culture and commitment to serving its customers. The success and growth that the company has demonstrated in the short time since its founding is a testament to its best-in-class operation, and we are very excited to welcome the Five Points team to the Revolution family,” says Sean Whiteley, CEO of Revolution. “We look forward to collaborating with and learning from the Five Points team in the coming months, working together to continue Five Points’ track record of producing quality products, while also bringing new innovations and sustainable solutions to the stretch film market, including the use of postconsumer material in stretch film products.” Gregg Smith, president of Five Points, adds, “We set out to develop a stretch film company that customers would genuinely enjoy working with, delivering high quality, innovative products, personalized, friendly service and integrity at our foundation. By joining Revolution, we are confident that the success we have built will only continue thanks to our shared values of innovation and a commitment to taking care of the customer.” Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., a steel producer an iron ore pellet provider that is based in Cleveland, has announced the promotion of three people at the executive level, effective next month. The announcement comes as Cleveland-Cliffs seeks to broaden its raw material portfolio by expanding its scrap recycling presence under its newly created division named Cleveland-Cliffs Services. Clifford T. Smith, currently executive vice president and chief operating officer at Cleveland-Cliffs , has been promoted to executive vice president and president of Cleveland-Cliffs. He will continue to lead operations for all business segments, including steelmaking, tooling and stamping and tubular components. Smith joined Cleveland-Cliffs in 2003. He has served as chief operating officer and executive vice president for business development since 2019. Before joining Cleveland-Cliffs, Smith held mine management positions with Asarco, Southern Peru Copper Corp. and Amax Coal. He received a bachelor’s in mining engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Keith A. Koci, currently executive vice president and chief financial officer at Cleveland-Cliffs, has been promoted to executive vice president and president of Cleveland-Cliffs Services. Koci will assume corporate responsibility for procurement, logistics, IT and scrap recycling. He will lead the growth of Cleveland-Cliffs’ raw material portfolio, with a primary emphasis on expanding the company’s presence in the domestic scrap recycling market. Koci joined Cleveland-Cliffs in 2019 and has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for his entire tenure. Before joining the company, Koci served as senior vice president and chief financial officer for Metals USA. Koci graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Celso L. Goncalves, currently senior vice president of finance and treasurer at Cleveland-Cliffs, has been promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer of Cleveland-Cliffs. He will lead the financial organization for Cleveland-Cliffs, assuming responsibility for finance, accounting, tax, treasury and investor relations. He will also continue to lead strategic corporate and business development initiatives. Before joining Cleveland-Cliffs, Celso Goncalves worked in investment banking at Deutsche Bank in New York and Jefferies in New York and São Paulo. Goncalves earned his MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and his bachelor’s degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. All three individuals will report directly to Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs. “Today’s announcement represents the formation of the ideal leadership structure for our recently transformed company going forward, with promotions to the three members of my core team,” Lourenco Goncalves says. “Cliff Smith, Keith Koci and Celso Goncalves have been critical contributors to our remarkable transformation over the past two years, and I will rely on them to continue to execute on our strategic objectives. I plan to be in this seat for the long term, and the collaboration of these three executives and their work with me are paramount to the continued success of our company.” city of Dothan – $98,560. The grants will help bolster local recycling programs affected by the pandemic and support education and outreach activities to promote the importance of recycling throughout the respective communities. The funds are made possible through the Solid Wastes and Recyclable Materials Management Act, which was passed by the Alabama Legislature in 2008. The legislation imposed a $1 per ton fee on all solid wastes disposed of in Alabama landfills. A portion of the proceeds generated by this fee supported the creation of the Alabama Recycling Fund, which provides the foundation for ADEM to award the recycling grants annually. The 16 recycling grants being provided this year bring the total amount of recycling grants provided by ADEM to more than $21 million and the number of grant recipients to 214. ADEM says these funds will benefit local communities and help the state reach its solid waste reduction goal of 25 percent. “This program has been extremely successful over the years,” says ADEM Director Lance LeFleur. “The local communities benefit from the resources the grants provide, the state benefits from the overall reduction in scrap that must be disposed of in landfills and the environment benefits. Every ton of scrap recycled is one ton that won’t have to go into a landfill. That saves on landfill costs and landfill space. Plus, recycling enables reuse of these materials, which conserves resources.”    Right-to-repair laws have recently become a hot topic with governments and environmental campaigners worldwide. As major manufacturers update their tablet and phone models yearly, the devices become slimmer and lighter, but often they are unrepairable. Right-to-repair laws attempt to rein in this issue by allowing consumers to repair their own devices, which could significantly impact the landscape for IT asset disposition (ITAD) service providers and others in the end-of-life electronics recycling landscape. What, why and how In the absence of right-to-repair laws, many manufacturers require repairs to be carried out either by themselves or by authorized shops (often at a high cost to consumers). For some products, such as mobile phones, newer models do not have replaceable batteries, forcing consumers to use warranty-enforced expensive repair options or simply buy a new model if something goes wrong with their device. Right-to-repair laws are an attempt to force manufacturers to bring back the ability for consumers to fix their devices themselves without having to use expensive official repair shops or having to buy a new device. They aim to reduce electronics waste and extend the useful lifespan of many standard electronic devices. Improperly handled electronic scrap can pose an environmental concern. Nonetheless a “throw away” approach is further compounded by manufacturers who constantly advocate consumers to update their smartphones and tablets. Without right-to-repair laws, manufacturers can have a monopoly on device repair. Many would simply give the consumer a new device rather than fix their existing one, even if the consumer would have rather had it reset. Due to the lack of competition, consumers did not always have many choices for getting their devices repaired. Right-to-repair laws also are used to help tackle planned obsolescence, a strategy of intentionally shortening the useful lifespan of devices to force consumers to upgrade to newer models in a shorter period than the natural lifespan of the device. This can occur via using purposely flimsy components or those with limited usefulness. It leads to a significant amount of electronic scrap, some of which is recycled while another portion ends up in landfills, where hazardous components leak into the environment. Right-to-repair laws aim to give consumers more power to fix devices themselves without using often expensive designated repair shops. Ideally, fewer devices will be thrown away since gadgets will last longer. The laws still offer the opportunity for end-of-life electronics recycling. Devices that were once thrown away due to a single component breaking may now be harvested for spare working components, which should also see greater demand due to the increased emphasis on consumer repairs. The aim is that the consumer may repair their devices at home using spare parts made available by the manufacturer. It also represents an opportunity for many more companies to offer repair services without the consumer worrying about voiding their warranty. These laws also encourage consumers to not throw away their devices for issues that may be easily fixed. For example, without a right-to-repair law, a consumer whose battery has died in a smartphone in which the battery cannot be replaced is forced to throw away the device or sell at a considerable loss. With such a law, it is much more viable to sell your mobile , as it may be repaired by someone else, even if consumers do not want to carry out the repairs themselves. Far from unanimous Different states within the United States and nations in the European Union have explored implementing these laws differently. In the United Kingdom, not all devices are covered by the current right-to-repair law passed in July 2021. The law covers TVs, washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers and various electronic displays. Devices notably absent from coverage in the U.K. include smartphones and computers. It’s also worth noting that manufacturers are not required to make a complete list of spare parts available, even for the devices covered under the law. Instead, only spare parts for “simple and safe” repairs must be made available to consumers. Examples given include door hinges for a washing machine and extra trays and baskets for refrigerators and freezers. As it stands under current U.K. law, it is significant that devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers are not covered under right-to-repair. These devices undoubtedly make up a substantial portion of consumer electronics waste, so it is disappointing that manufacturers are not currently required to make available spare parts for simple repairs by consumers themselves. It also means that many of these devices will continue to end up in landfills. Devices such as tablets and smartphones can include components that are toxic to the environment. At the same time, these devices can be harvested for valuable components. Still, without the impetus of consumer repairs, retail demand will remain low for these spare parts. Unfortunately, there also is no provision that the spare parts to be made available should be affordable. It may prevent many consumers from using these right-to-repair laws, particularly if the cost of these spare parts exceeds a consumer’s expectation of the value of their device. There is also the matter of consumer willingness to repair devices themselves. Not all consumers may be comfortable with ordering spare parts to repair a device themselves. This willingness may also be dependent on the device in question - consumers may be more confident in fixing a washing machine themselves than a smartphone, for example. As it stands, the U.K.’s current right-to-repair law marks a significant first step in granting consumers the right to repair devices themselves. This should result in a more active and competitive marketplace for end-of-life appliance recycling, as devices become more accessible and easily repairable. However, there are some noticeable absences in the kinds of devices covered by the law. There is a current lack of consumer culture around repairing devices instead of replacing them. Despite this, it seems likely that these issues will fade over time as self-repair becomes more common and the range of devices covered hopefully will expand. The author is a director with United Kingdom-based Freedom Mobiles, a mobile phone recycling online platform found at https://freedom-mobiles.com/ . Greenwich, Connecticut-based GXO Logistics Inc. says its most recent global survey on trends in e-commerce and returns shows a recent boost in increased e-commerce activity is likely to lead to higher returns volumes. GXO, which describes itself as the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, says its survey indicates 36 percent of the retailers who responded say online returns have increased in the past 12 months. Returned retail and commercial goods meet numerous fates, with some small appliances and electronic items heading into the electronics refurbishing and recycling stream. Other items may be destined for a secure destruction facility to divert them from a potential black market. On the sustainability and recycling front, the same survey indicated 57 percent of household consumers say having a sustainable returns program is an important factor they make a purchase online. The well documented increase in online buying also means some 72 percent of retailers are investing to upgrade in their returns management processes, according to GXO. More than a quarter of retailers surveyed have recently invested in additional warehouse space while 37 percent of them said returns have increased their operational costs. Retailers are “looking for a technologically advanced logistics partner with scale to support their e-commerce growth, including a rising need for returns management that requires specific expertise in technology to optimize inventory,” says Richard Cawston, president of Europeand operations for GXO. GXO  says growing e-commerce demand also means as many as 35 percent of goods bought online are returned, and it is trying to help by providing “reverse logistics solutions at greater scale.” The company’s retailer survey involved 360 respondents representing companies of various sizes in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Spain. The consumer statistics were derived from approximately 4,000 global respondents.