Bankruptcy of CRT Refiner

[Swampy]

I just caught an article about the bankruptcy filing of Creative Recycling. It apparently had a presence in several states and in addition to e-waste in general, had a "sub specialty" of sorts (my words, not theirs) in CRT recycling specifically. After that, I googled a bit and found more articles. It's very interesting on a number of counts, not the least of which is what the company plans to do with (apparently) millions of pounds of CRT material. One blurb I caught said they planned to get rid of 75% of it quickly to companies in the U.S. and India ... which I found curious. No breakdown on the USA vs. India percentages, but makes me wonder.

It also sounds like there 2 or 3 companies and a hedge fund interested in buying them, so someone must see this as viable. I suspect it was an issue of too much debt, though again I've only managed a cursory review at this point.



Another very interesting thing was they were the "state e-waste contractor" for Kentucky and now Kentucky is starting to stockpile material until they can find another company to handle it. That's a huge opportunity for someone, but unfortunately it will have to go to a big player (I would think) due if nothing else, to volume alone (nevermind certifications a state would require).

Anyway, I thought it was interesting. If anybody wants to read up on it, just google something like "Creative Recycling Bankruptcy".

[sawmilleng]

Probably just a company "mining the government". Get grants and incentives, never plan on doing anything with the product they accumulate, and disappear.

I doubt there are more than a couple of outfits in the US that can even handle leaded glass, and I'll bet they know it. They could charge the earth to take the stuff and the only other option would be to ship offshore--if it is even legal to export this waste.

Kinda like the huge scams that have happened with solar panel manufacturers. Think Solindra....well, more like $olindra. Gazillions of your tax money flushed.

Cynic mode {off}.

Jon

[hobo finds]

When CRT's were in use they were recycled and made into more, now that CRT's are no longer made it's harder to recycle them!

[newattitude]

When CRT's were in use they were recycled and made into more, now that CRT's are no longer made it's harder to recycle them!

I'm no expert on this stuff but it makes sense, I mean, what else can you do with the leaded glass of that volume?

Are we going to have to bury it in the mountains along side nuclear waste now lol.

[Scrappah]

I'm no expert on this stuff but it makes sense, I mean, what else can you do with the leaded glass of that volume?

Are we going to have to bury it in the mountains along side nuclear waste now lol.

I was kinda thinking along similar lines the morning. It's leaded glass and the reason it was leaded was to dampen down the emissions from the gun in the back of the tube. They used to say that you shouldn't sit too close to a tv back in the day.

There are a lot of situations that use lead or leaded glass to block harmful radiation. I built an x-ray room for a hospital once that was completely lead lined. (The sheetrock and doors were heavy as hell.) Leaded glass could be used instead of sheets of lead metal.

If you had tons & tons of the stuff the best (and simplest) use would probably be in making concrete for underground fallout shelters and nuclear waste storage facilities. Instead of using sand & stone in the concrete mix you could use different size pieces of leaded glass.

Just a random thought over the morning's first cup of coffee.

[Swampy]

All great points. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to find out they'd sucked up tax dollars and thrown them in a black hole. One of the companies interested is Kuusakosi Recycling, which is said to be a multinational company .... with a key product being CRT glass used as "alternative daily cover" at landfills....??? I don't like the sound of that. Another one was CIMMA out of Florida.

I have seen some activity (I think there was a post recently about this) on lead extraction from CRTs.

Bottom line, somebody somewhere better find a way to deal with it.....

[sawmilleng]

To use leaded glass as a landfill daily cover makes a bit of convoluted sense, as when the landfill is full it is capped with a water-resistant cover. Additionally, since the lead is within the glass, it will take quite some time to leach any significant quantities out, even if it is submerged in water.

So the lead will not likely to leach out very quickly in a dry landfill. "likely" is the operative word here. There are probably other lead sources in a landfill so maybe the lead in glass would only make up a small part of the total lead contained within the landfill.

I wonder if the glass guys who DO process leaded glass have a method of actually removing the lead or do they just re-melt the contaminated glass and it and use it to....make Toyotas or whatever?

Jon.

[unknownk]

Didn't somebody here post a video about a company that removed the lead from glass and sold it?

Most lead goes into lead acid batteries which are probably going to be obsolete soon enough. And glass outside of windows isn't exactly a booming industry.

[Otto]

Didn't somebody here post a video about a company that removed the lead from glass and sold it?

Most lead goes into lead acid batteries which are probably going to be obsolete soon enough. And glass outside of windows isn't exactly a booming industry.

There's a huge amount of glass used to make insulation. In fact, a while back, I read about a Japanese company recycling CRT glass to make insulation for appliances.

[mthomasdev]

Didn't somebody here post a video about a company that removed the lead from glass and sold it?

Most lead goes into lead acid batteries which are probably going to be obsolete soon enough. And glass outside of windows isn't exactly a booming industry.

These guys set up a plant in Dunkirk, NY. Don't know what they are charging to dispose of glass, but the process sounds neat.

The CRT Television Screen & Computer Monitor Recycling Process - © Nulife Glass

[eesakiwi]

Theres a Aussie comoany that recycles them.
Our NZ ewaste company went bust in less than a year too.

Maybe this is why the Goverments are shutting down lead refinerys.
Because they know that when the price of lead has gone up enough, it will become viabke to frecycle the CRT screens for lead.

[Hypoman]

Bet this has something to do with the bankruptcy:
Regions sues Creative Recycling for $18M, files motion to appoint receiver - Tampa Bay Business Journal

That Nulife business is NOT a viable business. They receive millions in NY subsidies and that where most of their "revenue" comes from. Same with ECS. They "made" about 84 million in 2012, but when you find out that only around 14 million was actually made from business and the rest from subsidies, it kinda changes your perspective on some of these companies. Would they be able to survive without those state subsidies? Doubtful...... But yet they make you think they've discovered some earth shattering profitable way to take care of crts, when really what they've done is convince their states to fund the service , so state loses money and company makes it from state. I guess we should be a little grateful that they can refine these crts but for how long? It's so unsustainable. Then again what government body does anything sensible. Rant over....sorry.






Don't get me started on politics! I'll probably end up punching you in the face.- hypoman

[Sirscrapalot]

Don't get me started on politics! I'll probably end up punching you in the face.- hypoman

Full article at Scrap Metal Forum: http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/tv-mo...#ixzz3D4TIESBj

If you don't put this in the thread I'm seriously revoking any and all future cooler privileges Hypo.

Sirscrapalot - Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself. - Mark Twain

[Hypoman]

What thread????????



I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.
Jack Kerouac

[Sirscrapalot]

It'll come to you.

Sirscrapalot - 20 pages! Woot.

[EcoSafe]

Yep!

[Electrowaste]

Just judging by the volume of CRT we get it doesn't matter if CRT recycling is unsustainable, it must occur. CRTs are piling up faster that you can spell CRT. We HAVE to do something about it and if it means the government bites the bullet for the CRT recycling then it has to be that way. I got more bad news, these flat panel TVs are not going to last forever either and we must begin to look at how we are going to recycle those as well...

[Hypoman]

Yep, it HAS to happen. If the EPA didn't regulate industrial innovation constantly, I don't think anyone would have to bite the bullet and people could actually profit off recycling crts. But they do, and will continue to do so. I also agree about the lcds. There is one company I know of that has the technology to do them. I'm sure there is more, but this comes at a cost to us as well. It's crazy, as recyclers, we KNOW these thing need to be recycled and if we don't want our country to turn into Ghana, we also have to bite the bullet for certain items unfortunately.








As state and federal lawmakers debate the country's energy policies and Colorado's role in the ever-expanding energy economy, let's hope they remember that unnecessary regulations stifle growth while doing nothing for public safety or health.

Bob Beauprez

[Scrappah]

Ummmm .... government isn't the solution. It does some things well like provide for the common defense and maintain a system of roads & bridges but beyond it's core purpose it doesn't have a very good track record. All to often ... it actually makes the situation worse.

You're right about CRT's. That's the biggest volume of e-waste right now. I'm starting to see more than a few flat screens because they don't seem to be very durable. They might last 5 - 7 years whereas the old bubble backs would last for twenty years or more. It's gotta be dealt with.

Ship em' to China !

[miked]

I recall one of our members bringing up the feds removing them (CRT's) from the hazardous waste list.(google search it) No doubt they(CRT's)remain on many if not most of the states' hazardous waste list. It seems that the lead which is mixed with the glass ,not on the surface, does not easily leach out. I would think that the glass has little re-use purpose so it comes down to solid waste.

My theory is that with this rather recent change by the feds charging for the recycling of CRT's may be soon over with.

Recycling of the new tv's is well under way and falls into the same steams as computers. Mike