Genesis Attachments’ technical trainer discusses what causes short- and long-term damage and how to avoid unwanted downtime.

Much of what operators need to know about maintaining their mobile shears can be found right in the owner’s manual, but Loren LaGesse, technical trainer with Superior, Wisconsin-based Genesis Attachments, says often those books get tossed in a desk drawer before an operator has the chance to review it.

“The things we get a lot of questions on—grease types, welding practices—a lot of that stuff is in the manuals” LaGesse said. “The guys that work on these shears never get a chance to go through it, look at it, review procedures [and] periodic maintenance, those sorts of things.

“If you have an owner’s, operator’s [or] safety manual available, make it available to everyone,” he added.

LaGesse spoke during the Scrap Expo session Mobile Shear Maintenance on Sept. 13 in Louisville, Kentucky, and while he noted that reviewing the information in the owner’s or operator’s manuals is critical to fully understanding how the system should be maintained, he offered in-depth advice on short- and long-term solutions to preserving a shear’s life.

The basic rule of thumb when it comes to material being processed, according to LaGesse, is if it “snaps, pops, cracks or flies when you cut it, it shouldn’t be in the jaws of a shear.”

“We see a lot of situations where a shear goes into a yard, material gets dumped in front of a shear and an operator goes to work and cuts everything that’s in front of him,” he said. “A lot of that stuff does short-term damage to the blades as well as long-term damage to the hydraulic system and the structural components of the shear.”

Processing that material often will void the shear’s warranty, too, and LaGesse said if it causes significant structural failure, you won’t get assistance when it comes to repair or replacement.

Shear components need to work in unison with one another, and a properly maintained shear will require less power, less fuel and have less unexpected downtime. LaGesse said poor maintenance can lead to:

An issue LaGesse calls “the biggest thorn in our side” is shears needing a case drain circuit. On all rotation systems, the case drain oil must be plumbed into a dedicated filter before entering the excavator hydraulic tank. It also should be equipped with a contamination indicator like a gauge.

If an operator wants to ensure a shear is running at peak performance, LaGesse said to make sure adjustment plates are set up properly. The adjustment plates are machined specific to each shear blade location and orientation and are not generic nor interchangeable. He stressed the plates are for each specific serial number and cannot be used model to model.

He also emphasized the importance of rotating a shear’s blades. Although the primary and secondary blade fitment is more forgiving than piercing tips, they also need to fight tight in the blade pockets with no gap on the load-bearing surfaces.

Material should actually be sheared, he said, not torn apart using brute hydraulic force, and blade condition is subjective to the kind of material being processed, which is where rotation comes into play. LaGesse said if you get hung up on a specific rotation schedule, you potentially could rotate too soon or too late, affecting shear life.

“Pull the covers off the shear once a week and do yourself a favor to try to avoid some of that downtime and ensure preventive care,” he said.

With the acquisition, Tide Rock says it dramatically scales its recycling business to include expertise in electronics decommissioning and certified data destruction.

Tide Rock Holdings, a strategic holding company based in San Diego, has acquired Full Circle Electronics, a sustainable electronics recycling provider specializing in scalable asset and decommissioning recycling processes for small to large industries based in Pike, New Hampshire.   

According to a news release from Tide Rock, Full Circle recently expanded its national footprint, spanning from coast to coast, with locations in California, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Florida. The company has International Traffic in Arms Regulations registered locations and R2 certified facilities in its portfolio and manages and processes waste, scrap and obsolete circuit boards.  

“With tightening government regulations, increased awareness of proper disposal, quicker replacement of electronics goods and proper disposal of secure data, the electronics recycling industry is attractive to Tide Rock,” Brooks Kincaid, president of Tide Rock Holdings. “Full Circle Electronics has been growing organically and through acquisitions across the country and we look forward to building a national brand with a coast-to-coast footprint.”  

Full Circle, led by CEO Tracey Haslam, is a group of companies committed to the safe and secure processing of the rapidly growing electronic waste generated by today’s lifestyle. Full Circle Electronics collects, processes and returns usable equipment and commodities into the market from electronic waste streams. The company says it is certified by U.S. recycling and international quality standards.  

“Our data destruction processes tracks, destroys, documents and reports for our customer’s peace of mind,” Haslam says. “We are proud of the trusted relationship we have with technology and service provider leaders in handling their most sensitive data and technology.”  

Full Circle’s retail arm provides access to previously owned electronic equipment and laptops to those who would otherwise be unable to achieve such accessibility. The company is a beacon in communities for students and small businesses.  

This is the third recycling company acquired by Tide Rock Holdings, following American Recycling and Cal Micro Recycling. With the acquisition, Tide Rock says it has dramatically scaled its recycling business to include expertise in electronics decommissioning and certified data destruction.   

The Consumer Brands Association and Ameripen have sent letters to lawmakers urging them to pass the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act and the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act.

In June, House Reps. David McKinley and Mikie Sherrill introduced the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act (H.R. 8183) and House Reps. Joe Neguse, Tim Burchett and Bill Foster introduced the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act (H.R. 8059).

The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act would establish a pilot rural recycling program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would award competitive grants to eligible entities that improve recycling accessibility in underserved communities, and the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act would improve data collection by requiring the EPA to collect and make publicly available data on recycling and composting rates across the country.

Senate lawmakers passed both of these bills in late July, and now these bills just await a decision by House lawmakers.

This week, the Consumer Brands Association (CBA), Washington, has reached out to House Energy & Commerce Committee members urging them to pass both H.R. 8183 and H.R. 8059.

“A core focus of our organization is promoting thoughtful federal solutions that will reduce waste and fix the broken recycling system,” the letter from the CBA states. “Both H.R. 8183 and H.R. 8059 are solid examples of such policies and reflect a bipartisan, bicameral commitment to addressing our nation’s recycling challenges. … Consumer Brands believes these two proposals will advance the committee’s efforts to bolster U.S. recycling rates and help Americans achieve waste-free living.”

According to CBA, the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act will provide investments to enable underserved communities to realize economic and environmental benefits of recycling. CBA says it also could help bolster the nation’s overall recycling rate.

CBA adds that the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act will help to fill “information gaps” elated to recycling and composting, helping businesses spur recycling and composting innovation.

“We need to advance solutions that address the fundamental failures of America’s fragmented recycling systems,” says John Hewitt, vice president of packaging and sustainability at CBA. “Right now, recycling is far too complicated and impractical for many consumers, and the national recycling rate is less than 35 percent. With nearly 10,000 local systems across the country, 71 percent of Americans say having various systems creates confusion and 65 percent of Americans believe recycling rules should be standardized on a national level.

“The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act and the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act are critical steps toward bolstering recycling rates and addressing consumer confusion across the country. Consumer Brands supports congressional consideration of these bills as diligent steps to improve our nation’s recycling infrastructure.”

The American Institute for Packaging and the Environment (Ameripen), St. Paul, Minnesota, also has sent a letter to legislators encouraging them to pass both the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act and the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act.

Ameripen says it plans to meet with lawmakers related to these bills before the congressional session ends.

“Ameripen supports HR 8183, which would provide grants for projects to make recycling programs more accessible to rural and disadvantaged communities,” the institute says in a statement on these two bills. “Packaging can be a lifeline to underserved communities for food and other critical products, and this bill will help those communities put in place the infrastructure, education, accessibility and markets for recovering and recycling the packaging materials of today and the future.

“Ameripen also supports HR 8059 that, among other things, would require the EPA to collect, maintain and publish data on recycling and composting rates across the country. This will provide an accurate reflection of recycling and composting performance nationally and at the state level—information that will be critical to improving existing recycling and composting programs and evaluating future recycling policies. Solutions require data, partnerships and communication to build a packaging design, delivery, collection, recycling, reuse system based on what we know works and what does not.

“In July 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed two companion bills, the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act (S 3742) and the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act (S 3743). With passage of the House bills in upcoming legislative work days, the legislation can then be sent to President Biden for signature into law,” Ameripen concludes.

Lloyd McGuire brings more than 15 years of cross-functional experience, including roles as a business turnaround consultant and financial restructuring adviser.

Ecobat, a battery recycling company based in Irving, Texas, has appointed Lloyd McGuire as chief financial officer.  

According to a news release from Ecobat, McGuire will oversee all the financial operations of the company, including accounting, financial reporting, tax, business control and treasury. He will manage all aspects of financial matters and decision-making.  

“Lloyd has a proven track record of using financial insights to transform business strategies,” says Ecobat CEO Marcus Randolph. “We are extremely fortunate to have him at the helm of our organization's financial operations as we continue to make the business of batteries safer and more sustainable.”

Ecobat says McGuire brings more than 15 years of cross-functional experience, including roles as a business turnaround consultant, financial restructuring adviser and attorney for public and private companies, lenders, unsecured parties and government entities.  

Most recently, he served as a corporate finance and restructuring partner at FTI Consulting. Before that, McGuire interned with The Blackstone Group's GSO Capital Partners after serving on active duty in the United States Marine Corps as a judge advocate. While in the military, he focused on litigation and deployed to Afghanistan with an infantry battalion, acting as the commanding officer's legal adviser on matters like fiscal law, investigations, detainee operations and the law of war.   

McGuire holds a Bachelor of Arts from Southwestern University, a juris doctorate from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M University. He is a member of the Texas Bar, South Carolina Bar and District of Columbia Bar and serves on the Texas A&M MBA Advisory Board.  

The company says McGuire joins six other senior leaders who bring decades of global experience and unmatched dedication to leading Ecobat as it continues to transform energy storage, according to the firm. He officially joined the team in the chief financial officer role in September. 

The feedstocks agreement helps AmSty ensure its products designed for food packaging applications will contain at least 30 percent recycled content by 2030.

Americas Styrenics (AmSty), Houston, as signed a memorandum of understanding with The Woodlands, Texas-based Encina Development Group that enables AmSty to purchase up to 250,000 tons per year of circular feedstocks from Encina’s facilities. Encina produces circular materials using advanced recycling technology that works at the molecular level.

AmSty also has signed a formal long-term offtake agreement for the purchase of circular feedstocks from Encina’s first U.S. commercial plant in Point Township, Pennsylvania, which is expected to begin production in early 2025. These circular feedstocks will then be available for purchase as recycled-content credits, based on the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC Plus) mass-balance system.

AmSty has committed to ensure that all its polystyrene (PS) products designed for food packaging applications will contain at least 30 percent recycled content by 2030, according to a news release from AmSty.

“This new collaboration is vital to helping AmSty meet that goal and demonstrates our total commitment to a sustainable future across all of our market segments,” says Randy Pogue, AmSty president and CEO.? 

Tim Barnette, vice president of polymers and sustainability at AmSty, says this new agreement with Encina allows companies across AmSty’s portfolio to offer recyclable, sustainable products.

“Now is the time for market leaders to join forces with us to commit to introducing circular polystyrene products at scale,” Barnette says. “We have been working diligently toward this moment and are now ready to move forward commercializing PolyRenew credits in a big way.”

Encina plans to continue to build commercial plants across the U.S. As the company continues to bring more facilities online, AmSty says it plans to enter into additional offtake agreements to purchase circular feedstocks from those facilities. 

According to AmSty, both companies have received the ISCC Plus designation, which ensures the sustainability characteristics claimed by the companies are credibly validated.

“We’re excited to be working with AmSty, a company that shares our vision of getting to a world where nothing is wasted,” says David Roesser, chief executive officer of Encina. “Increasingly, customers are demanding sustainable practices across the product supply chain and life cycle. The feedstocks we manufacture reduce waste, offset the need to produce virgin materials and help manufacturers achieve carbon neutral goals as we transition to a circular economy.”?