Steelmaker to add 600,000 tons per year melt shop In Kingman, Arizona.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based steelmaker Nucor Corp. has announced it will add a new melt shop at its bar mill in Kingman, Arizona. The anticipated $100 million melt shop will have the capacity to produce 600,000 tons of raw steel annually. Construction of the melt shop is expected to take two years, pending permit and regulatory approvals.

“This investment in a new melt shop at our Arizona bar mill is part of our strategy to grow our core steelmaking business and will help us maintain our market leadership position in steel bar production,” says Leon Topalian, president and CEO of Nucor. “Adding new melt shop capacity will help meet the growing demand for steel bar products in the Western region, which is one of the fastest growing areas in the United States.”

Steel production in the West lags behind that of other regions, according to figures kept by the Washington-based American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). In the week ending this July 30, for example, just 64,000 tons of steel were made in the AISI Western region. That lags behind 728,000 tons in its Southern region; 562,000 in the Great Lakes region; 207,000 in the Midwest region; and 166,000 in the AISI North East region.

One of the last mills in California, an electric arc furnace (EAF) mill in Rancho Cucamonga last operated by Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), was idled in late 2020, with the land sold off last year. CMC has attempted to shift some of that capacity by expanding its EAF output in Mesa, Arizona. Nucor will now try to boost Western U.S. output with the Kingman project.

In September 2021, Nucor announced its intention to build a new melt shop at one of its existing bar mills in the Western United States. Nucor Steel Kingman is the ideal location for this project because it is a rolling mill that converts steel billets into coiled wire rod and rebar but lacks a melt shop. The Kingman mill currently employs approximately 80 teammates.

Wire rod and rebar made downstream of the melt shop in Kingman are used primarily in concrete reinforcement for the construction of roads, buildings, bridges and other structures. Nucor will use scrap-fed EAF technology and refers to itself as “one of the most sustainable steel producers in the world.” Nucor says its steel bar products last year averaged 98.5 percent recycled content.

“Nucor’s new sustainable steel production facility will strengthen Arizona’s vibrant manufacturing ecosystem,” says Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “Nucor’s new facility will produce quality steel and steel products while maintaining the highest safety and sustainability standards. We are grateful for Nucor’s commitment to Kingman, creating high-wage jobs while driving further economic growth in the area.”

Nucor has 15 bar mills in the U.S., with four of them focusing on special bar quality (SBQ) and wire rod products. Nucor estimates its current bar steel production capacity at approximately 9.56 million tons per year.

In addition to its EAF steelmaking operations, Nucor makes steel racking; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; insulated metal panels; overhead doors; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh. Through its Cincinnati-based David J. Joseph Co. business unit, it processes and brokers ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal.

The company has acquired Heath, Ohio-based Waste Away Systems.

WIN Waste Innovations, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has acquired Waste Away Systems, a Heath, Ohio-based solid waste and recycling hauling company.

The deal, which formally closed July 19, includes a transfer station that handles municipal solid waste and construction and demolition waste. Waste Away Systems currently manages 18 collection routes, with 8,600 residential accounts across 11 municipal contracts. It also has 1,800 commercial customers and a roll-off business that services temporary and compactor customers.

“Waste Away is a well-run company with an aligned goal of excellent customer service while prioritizing safety and sustainability,” a spokesperson for WIN Waste told Waste Today. “The addition of Waste Away’s business supports a base for future strategic growth near our existing landfill assets.”

As the company’s first major acquisition outside of the Northeast, WIN Waste is showing no signs of slowing down since its restructuring last spring. In April of last year, the company announced it would integrate 10 wase industry businesses into a single company operating under the WIN Waste Innovations brand.

WIN Waste, which now generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue, is comprised of the former Wheelabrator Technologies, as well as Stamford, Connecticut-based City Carting & Recycling and Tunnel Hill Partners; Londonderry, New Hampshire-based Charles George Waste Disposal & Recycling; Westboro, Massachusetts-based United Material Management; and others.

Today, the combined company operates roughly 50 strategically located collection, transfer and disposal assets. It serves more than 110,000 collection customers on over 200 collection routes using 346 total collection vehicles and eight hauling locations.

“Investing in our team across all lines of business and ensuring our assets are working optimally in both process and environmental health and safety remains our priority,” says the spokesperson. “We will pursue a continuation of our growth strategy utilized in New England where we prioritized smart, strategic growth opportunities to support vertical integration which can reinforce our assets and expand our depth of services throughout our footprint.”

According to the company’s website, Waste Away was originally founded in 1976 by John Young. In April 2012, the company was reestablished by Young’s grandson, Seth Ellington. Under Ellington, the company took a new approach to high-quality waste services.

Connecticut-based investor points to positives of population growth in the coastal South Carolina region.

Ironwood Capital has announced making an investment in Ridgeland, South Carolina-based Pro Disposal USA LLC. Ironwood says the investment, “will support Pro Disposal’s acquisition of Carolina Containers of Beaufort and Barnwell Resources (CCB),” which it calls a collection and hauling, transfer station and landfill business specializing in C&D materials.

Pro Disposal is described by Ironwood as a vertically integrated waste management service provider permitted to handle waste from initial collection to its transfer station to final disposal. The firm was founded in 2006 and serves communities near the South Carolina coast from Charleston to Hilton Head to Savannah, Georgia.

Ironwood, based in Avon, Connecticut, calls the operating region “an area experiencing significant population growth, contributing to high levels of demand for solid waste management.”

Comments Alex Cano, president of Pro Disposal, “We’re very excited about the acquisition of CCB, as it allows Pro Disposal to achieve full vertical integration and positions the company for future growth through geographic expansion and further penetration of the existing region.”

“Alex is an excellent leader and he and his team have done a tremendous job executing on organic growth, facility expansion and M&A, laser-focused, transforming the company in just two short years since Laurel Mountain Partner’s investment,” says Jeff Kendall, CEO of Laurel Mountain Partners and Pro Disposal.

Joe Ursuy, a Comerica Bank executive vice president involved in the transaction, says, “Since 1996, Comerica has financed several solid waste and environmental business acquisitions throughout North America with Jeff Kendall and Laurel Mountain Partners and are pleased that our partnership continues with this acquisition of CCB.”

Comments Dickson Suit of Ironwood Capital, “Ironwood has made numerous investments in environmental services companies backing proven managers and leaders and is thrilled to once again collaborate with Jeff and Alex, who founded Pro Disposal in 2006 with only two roll-off containers and a single truck. This entrepreneur dynamic, coupled with strong regional market tailwinds in South Carolina and Georgia and an overlapping footprint with the acquisition, make this a highly accretive and exciting transaction.”

Ironwood Capital describes itself as providing non-control growth capital to middle-market companies in the United States, having invested more than $1 billion in more than 100 companies since 2001.

The new offering provides storage capabilities, improved uptime, high security and cloud reporting.

Starlight Software Solutions, a provider of software for waste and recycling management based in Denver, has released features and functions specific to roll-off waste haulers and recyclers. This new version of Starlight is a fully cloud-based software system, providing improved storage and automated systems for optimized efficiency.    

The cloud solution for roll-off haulers and recyclers has the added power of the amazon web services cloud platform, which provides storage capabilities, nearly constant uptime and high security. Additionally, this product includes Starlight’s cloud reporting, a tool for creating reports on key metrics with simplified drag and drop functionality. This allows operators to see where opportunities and risks exist in their operations. As a result, haulers can adapt to meet customer needs, fulfill change orders and capture new sales. The product also allows better management of inventory, routes and drivers.  

“This new release is already helping customers increase productivity and most importantly profitability,” says Bill Bradley, CEO and founder of Starlight Software Solutions. “Our customers are seeing double-digit gains in just weeks of implementation and are able to gain tremendous efficiency through much better awareness and control of their assets.”   

The roll-off and recycling management system features are among several capabilities that Starlight will be releasing this Fall, starting in August. Scheduled releases include solutions specific to commercial haulers with subscription-based accounts, residential trash services and portable toilets. Each of these solutions will be cloud-based and backed by the same five-star customer support for which Starlight has been long known. 

“Our team has produced what truly is a game-changing solution for the waste industry,” Bradley says. “Our system assures a seamless and simple implementation for customers of all sizes, allowing haulers and recyclers to up their efficiency and profitability in short order. We are truly excited to offer this system to our industry.” 

The contracts include remediation and compliance services and byproduct services.

Louisville, Kentucky-based Charah Solutions Inc., a provider of environmental services and byproduct recycling to the power generation industry, has announced it has been awarded two remediation and compliance services contracts and one byproduct services contact from three different utility partners throughout the Southeast.  

Charah Solutions’ ash pond management services contract in Louisiana includes the dewatering, excavation and removal of about 400,000 tons of coal combustion residuals (CCR) from two legacy ash basins and the delivery and disposal of the CCRs to the station’s existing on-site lined landfill.   

Additionally, the company’s ash pond management services contract in Arkansas includes the closure by removal of a retiring pond. This project involves the excavation of nearly 690,000 cubic yards of CCR from the ash and coal yard runoff pond. It also includes excavating more than 60,000 cubic yards of the underlying soil. Excavated and dredged materials will be placed in an on-site lined landfill, while the excavated bottom ash segregated portions ultimately will be marketed and sold as a raw material to the Portland cement production industry.   

The company’s long-term landfill operations contract in Arkansas for byproduct services includes CCR material loading, transportation, placement and compaction in an existing on-site lined landfill. Charah Solutions will manage and transport conditioned fly ash, bottom ash, spray dryer absorber reactor ash and filter cake for about 1.7 million tons of CCR materials over the life of the contract.   

“We are delighted to be awarded these multiple projects from three different utility partners to meet their specific remediation and compliance and byproduct service needs, ensuring a well-managed and compliant program from start to finish,” says Scott Sewell, Charah Solutions president and CEO.