The MH3250 AND MH3260 material handlers replace the 330D MH and 345 C MH models and offer longer maintenance intervals and improved fuel efficiency.

Caterpillar, Peoria, Illinois, has released the MH3250 and MH3260 material handlers, which replace the company’s 330D MH and 345 C MH models, respectively. The MH3250 and MH3260 tracked material handlers offer longer maintenance intervals and improved fuel efficiency, decreasing owning and operating costs up to 20 percent compared with the models they replace, according to the company.

Both models feature new mechanical variable-gauge undercarriages. Track gauge retracts to 10 feet 7 inches to lower transport costs and make moving the material handlers more efficient. When at the yard, the gauge extends to 12 feet 2 inches to increase stability and maximize lift capacities, the company says. The MH3250 and MH3260 offer maximum reaches of 52 feet 6 inches and 59 feet 1 inch, respectively, as well as three different power modes—Power, Smart and Eco—to match the job requirements to use less fuel than their predecessors without sacrificing machine performance. Smart Mode automatically matches engine and hydraulic power to working conditions to reduce fuel consumption, while Power Mode provides maximum power to optimize productivity.

New valve priority automatically places hydraulic pressure and flow where it’s required to increase material handling efficiency, Cat says.

A range of attachments and reach options are available for varied applications to increase operating flexibility. Increasing the MH3250’s versatility, it can be equipped with the ex-factory 25-kilowatt generator for magnet operation. Customers can choose from a range of Cat Work Tool attachments in different sizes to meet the site’s material handling and production needs.

The cab features sound suppression for interior noise reduction and rubber cab mounts to reduce vibration feedback, advancing operating ease, comfort and productivity, according to the manufacturer. All controls are positioned in front of and within easy reach of the operator to avoid unnecessary movements.

A large, 10-inch high-resolution touch-screen monitor with jog-dial offers easy navigation of the operator controls. Using the new Operator ID function, different machine operators can store their specific joystick and preferred power mode settings, and the machine automatically recalls the settings based on the ID, Cat notes. To improve highwall trailer loading/unloading and shredder loading efficiency, the hydraulically controlled cab rises to a maximum elevation of 19 feet 9 inches. 

Smaller cab pillars, combined with large tempered windows and a flat engine hood, deliver all-around visibility for the operator, increasing safety, according to the company. With video feed displayed on the large touch-screen monitor, standard rearview and side-view cameras improve work area visibility.

Synchronized service intervals and extended filter replacement schedules are designed to reduce maintenance time and costs for the new Cat MH3250 and MH3260 material handlers. All fuel filters feature a coordinated 1,000-operating-hour change interval, and the new air intake filter with precleaner lasts up to 1,000 hours to reduce maintenance requirements, according to the company. A new hydraulic oil filter improves filtration and increases change intervals to 3,000 operating hours, a 50 percent longer service life than previous filter designs. Additionally, the company says, new anti-drain valves keep the hydraulic oil clean during filter replacement to improve system longevity.

Operators track filter life and maintenance intervals on the in-cab high-resolution monitor.

New remote services capabilities for the MH3250 and MH3260 increase service efficiency and potentially save trips to the job site. Remote Flash works around the production schedule to conveniently assure the machine operates with the most current version of on-board software, so it delivers high performance with minimum downtime. The Cat App helps to manage fleet location, hours and maintenance schedules and provides alerts for required maintenance needs, according to the manufacturer.

Dallas and Omaha-area agreements extended through 2024.

FCC Environmental Services, with U.S. headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas, announced April 7 that it has received the renewal and expansion of three municipal contracts in the Dallas and Omaha areas totaling $15 million, extending the agreements through 2024.

Contracts were signed for both Omaha, Nebraska, solid waste collection and disposal, and the city of Mesquite, Texas, extending the recycling services contract totaling $500,000.

The contract for transportation and processing of recyclables for the city of Garland, Texas, expanded to now include recycling collection and processing, worth about $14.5 million.

“FCC Environmental Services continues to provide exceptional service to our communities, as evidenced by not only these contract extensions but expansions,” FCC Environmental Services CEO Inigo Sanz says. “We’re proud of our top-notch workforce and its service record.”

Recyclables collected and bundled in Mesquite sell as source material to local companies, such as Smurfit Kappa, WestRock, Georgia-Pacific Corp. and International Paper, FCC says.

“Our recyclable materials continue to have strong market value,” Andrea Rodriguez-Pinero, director of U.S. recycling at FCC, says.

The recyclable items for the cities of Garland and Mesquite are processed at FCC’s Dallas Material Recycling Facility, in partnership with the city of Dallas, through an 18-year contract. The Dallas MRF, which won the National Waste and Recycling Association’s 2017 Best Recycling Facility of the Year award, can process up to 145,000 tons a year.

FCC Environmental Services provides solid waste solutions for more than 8.5 million Americans as part of more than 25 municipal contracts.

The Quebec-based firm was awarded for its catalytic microwave depolymerization technology that can be used to recycle plastic scrap.

Quebec-based Pyrowave has announced that it is one of the 12 winners of the 2021 BloombergNEF (BNEF) Pioneers award. Pyrowave launched in 2014 to focus on recycling plastic scrap using a catalytic microwave depolymerization technology. The technology aims to generate recycled styrene from plastics found in packaging, insulation panels and household appliances. Pyrowave says its technology enables recycling of plastic scrap by using electricity.

The BNEF Pioneers program launched more than a decade ago to recognize early-stage companies that are pursuing low-carbon opportunities. The program recognizes companies that address one of several challenges: managing and optimizing long-haul freight; advancing materials and techniques for sustainable products; and monitoring and understanding the changing planet.

According to a news release on the award, Pyrowave was recognized for its advancement of materials and techniques for sustainable products. The company is using microwave technology to supply the chemical industry with recycled raw materials that are drop-in substitutes for virgin chemicals.

“This year we selected three specific areas—heavy-duty transport, materials and the climate—where BNEF believes technology must play an important role in decarbonization,” says Claire Curry, selection committee co-chair and head of digital industry research at London-based BloombergNEF. “For the last decade, the BNEF Pioneers award has been essential in highlighting exciting innovations in solar, wind, storage, smart grid and electric vehicles, to name a few. By focusing on specific themes each year where technology innovation is sorely needed, we hope that the competition will continue to shine a light on important, pioneering innovations.”

“At Pyrowave we believe the future will be electric and that electricity will power a broad range of innovations serving circular economy and sustainable materials. We pioneered the development of the most advanced industrial microwave-based platform applied to circular economy of plastics enabling closed-loop low-carbon plastics. BNEF’s recognition highlights Pyrowave’s vision and hard work in developing a ground-breaking technology, enabling new possibilities in addressing a growing global issue,” says Jocelyn Doucet, CEO of Pyrowave.

U.S.-based mill services firm will handle scrap procurement for JSW Dolvi steelmaking complex in India.

The Harsco Environmental division of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Harsco Corp. says it has successfully renewed a multiyear mill services contract with JSW Steel for that firm’s Dolvi operation in Maharashtra, India.

The current service contract, which includes the processing of steel melting shop-1 (SMS1) slag, expires in June 2022. The renewed contract adds the processing of SMS2 slag, beginning July 2021, to support Dolvi until it develops a single large metal recovery plant (MRP) at a new location, which will double its capacity. The formal renewal to handle SMS2 slag production begins this summer.

Harsco currently provides several services at the Dolvi mill, including metal recovery, scrap management and under-furnace digging. “These services are directly linked to consistent and continuous steel production and are critical for plant operations,” according to Harsco. In 2019, Harsco secured three additional multi-year contracts to set up, operate and maintain slag briquetting, slag cooling and melt shop services at JSW Dolvi.

“This is another milestone in our longstanding strategic relationship with JSW Dolvi,” says Harsco Environmental Regional President of India Siva Subramaniyam. “It is proof of our client’s trust in us to deliver an upgraded and efficient metal recovery plant in the shortest time to meet the increased slag production as the Dolvi plant doubles its steel capacity.”

The renewal has been designed to ensure Harsco can provide continuity for JSW Dolvi beyond the expiration of the existing contract, with an upgraded plant, to cater excess slag processing until the future expansion at the new MRP takes place.

“JSW always puts emphasis on byproduct/waste product management, its effective utilization and maximization of its value by employing the latest technology, which is both economically and environmentally efficient,” says JSW Dolvi Works President Gajraj Singh Rathore. “With the finalization of this contract with Harsco, JSW has again moved one step ahead towards our objective of solid waste utilization. I wish for a timely and successful implementation of the project, as it is strategically important for us to manage the slag produced from our steel melt shop 2 expansion project.”

The state’s Department of Environmental Quality is distributing about $500,000 in grants to reduce the state’s dependence on landfill disposal.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has announced that its recycling program has provided $492,937 in recycling business development grants to 16 North Carolina recycling companies.

According to a news release from the department, the grants are projected to create 108 new jobs and generate more than $1.3 million in new, private business investments while reducing the state’s dependence on landfill disposal.

“Recycling businesses provide high quality jobs for North Carolinians and play a unique role in boosting the state’s economy while improving the state’s environmental and carbon footprint,” says Jamie Ragan, director of the Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. “These grant-funded projects will create jobs and put recyclable materials back into the state’s economy, thereby helping manufacturers make new products, reducing North Carolina’s reliance on foreign markets and ultimately diverting material from the waste stream.”

For the fourth year in a row, DEQ says it gave priority to projects that improve North Carolina’s capacity to domestically process and use mixed paper and nonbottle plastics. According to the North Carolina DEQ, strengthening local markets leads to more resilient recycling programs and better value for these materials when diverted from landfill disposal. 

The recycling business grantees are from 13 counties, representing both large and small companies. The North Carolina DEQ says types of grant projects awarded include expanding plastic processing capacity, upgrading material recovery facilities and improving recycling markets for other materials. The following companies received grants:

Grants are offered each year, depending on funding availability, to reduce the flow of solid waste into landfills and continue growing the state’s recycling economy. Recipients are required to provide a minimum cash match of 50 percent of the grant award; however, the level of private investment in 2021 is expected to more than double the total grant funding. The combination of grant and private dollars will result in a nearly $1.8 million investment in the state’s recycling infrastructure.