Supplier News

Metro Compactor Service acquires Miller Waste Solutions Group

Metro Compactor Service, a leading Canadian provider of waste and recycling service and equipment for more than 40 years, is expanding its operations and scaling up in Ontario with the acquisition of Miller Waste Solutions Group, a division of Miller Waste Systems that focuses on the service and manufacturing of waste and recycling equipment.

The acquisition will expand the Brampton, Ontario-based company’s capabilities in the province, enabling it to meet growing demand through a larger fleet of service vehicles and additional service technicians.

“With an increased fleet and more techs in the field, we will now be able to service our customers better, faster and more efficiently,” Metro Compactor Service President Andrew Strudwicke says. “As our footprint in Ontario continues to expand, there will be increased regional support for customers and less wasted time traveling back and forth between sites.”

Through this acquisition, Metro strengthens its business offerings in the construction of multiresidential buildings. From installing and retrofitting new chutes, sorters and compactors to servicing existing equipment, Metro says it aims to provide a one-stop solution to address the needs of customers in the construction field.

Metro has made a series of strategic announcements in recent years to continue its focus on transforming Canada’s waste and recycling equipment market: the launch of its iSMART technology, its operational merger with sister company Wilkinson Chutes and last November’s acquisition of Compaction Plus.

“This transaction will allow us to further exploit the synergies between our two companies,” Miller Waste Services Vice Chair Denis Goulet says.

Metro says it will continue to provide its full range of equipment services—chutes, waste equipment, maintenance and more—to the commercial, high-rise and multiresidential markets.

Omni selected as contractor at Missouri waste-to-fuel plant

Ottawa, Ontario-based Omni Conversion Technologies Inc. has been awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract at the CST New Madrid LLC facility being planned by Minneapolis-based Circular SynTech LLC.

Circular SynTech says its technology is geared toward the production of renewable carbon-negative fuels, chemicals, plastics and other products from common waste streams.

For the CST New Madrid facility in New Madrid, Missouri, Omni says it has received orders for four of its Omni200 units and delivered the first in February.

The company says the Omni200 is a thermal chemical conversion system that has been proven at an industrial scale. The integrated system is delivered as a modular unit rather than built on-site.

Each module can receive and convert up to 200 metric tons per day (67,000 metric tons per year) of what Omni says is a wide variety of minimally prepared energetic wastes.

Postconversion, the Omni200’s output consists of syngas with a predictable heating value and composition, the firm says.

Circular SynTech says the CST New Madrid facility will be the first of its kind to implement its proprietary OneStep catalysis for the production of waste-to-renewable fuels and chemicals.

The companies say the Omni200 technology will generate OmniSyngas at ratios required to react with Circular SynTech’s OneStep catalyst-producing reformates, which will then be distilled into renewable fuels or chemicals for the commercial market.

“This second FEED contract from CST New Madrid demonstrates confidence in Omni’s technology to deliver valuable and ultra-clean syngas while avoiding harmful methane emissions associated with landfilling waste,” Omni CEO Jon Lundy says. “We are excited to support CST New Madrid’s rapid progress in producing renewable carbon-negative chemicals in a unique and sustainable way while making a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change.”

“Circular SynTech is the perfect complement to the Omni technology,” says Michael Harrelson, chief operations officer of CST New Madrid. “CST not only uses [greenhouse gas-] producing waste as its feedstock but also uses non-biogenic waste to create alternatives to fossil fuel-created distillates and chemicals. We couldn’t do this without Omni.”

Autocar sets up EV assembly space

Autocar LLC says it now has an electric vehicle (EV) assembly line at its manufacturing facility in Birmingham, Alabama. The company makes vocational trucks, including models for the waste and recycling sector.

“When we set up the Birmingham plant in 2017, it was a significant moment for Autocar, and we got it done in record time,” Autocar Chairman Andrew Taitz says. “Deepening the plant’s capabilities with our own EV assembly technology [shows] we have the talent, vision and commitment to keep advancing with all market developments.”

Hagerstown, Maryland-based Autocar’s in-house designed powerpacks and high-voltage battery packs are the first EV powertrain components being assembled on the new line in Birmingham.

“Our customers know, trust and expect Autocar quality,” Taitz says. “Whichever powertrain option Autocar customers choose, build quality is never optional. It’s a given.”

During the build phases of Autocar’s EV power units and battery packs, assembly technicians can access digital confirmation terminals and scanners to validate the health of each truck’s battery and electrical architecture, the firm says.

Autocar says its new EV line leverages the experience and awareness of master assembly technicians with the added benefit of a digitally enhanced assembly system.

The truck maker credits Blackstone Construction, Birmingham, for installing the structure for Autocar’s new EV line.

The engineering business unit of Triz Advanced Manufacturing, based in Chicago, helped design the dedicated EV component assembly line “to ensure the best power unit and battery pack build quality,” Autocar says.

Rutgers University receives Earth Flow composting system

Rutgers University’s EcoComplex, an alternative energy innovation center, has commissioned an automated in-vessel composting system for the university’s Cook Campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The Earth Flow In-Vessel composting system from Bainbridge Island, Washington-based Green Mountain Technologies (GMT) automatically will process up to 30,000 pounds of campus-generated organics per month, including food and animal waste.

This will reduce the environmental impact and financial cost of hauling waste to landfills while creating compost to enrich campus landscapes, gardens and greenhouses, the university says.

“We’ve been exploring potential composting plans for the Cook Campus for many years. Our new Earth Flow In-Vessel composting system from Green Mountain Technologies will help us divert our cafeteria and animal waste from landfills, which is very important for Rutgers’ sustainability and climate change mitigation strategies,” says Serpil Guran, director of the EcoComplex and project leader at Rutgers.

The Earth Flow composting system automatically mixes, grinds and aerates compostable materials in an enclosed vessel similar to a shipping container. The aeration system enables any exhaust to be vented into a biofilter to eliminate odors while the system is operating.

With the system, fresh compostable material is loaded into one end of the container, while finished compost is automatically ejected from the other end in a controlled process.

“We’re thrilled to provide a cutting-edge composting solution for Rutgers,” GMT founder Michael Bryan Brown says.