No matter where or when contractors have a job, they need the right equipment to do it. While many operators choose to purchase equipment outright, renting is a viable option that can make financial and operational sense depending on the job and scope of work.

Company Wrench, headquartered in Carroll, Ohio, sells and rents equipment and parts for the scrap, demolition and construction industries. With nine locations across the U.S., they’re a go-to resource for professionals in need.

Construction & Demolition Recycling spoke with Christian Billotto, Company Wrench’s specialty markets territory sales manager for North Carolina and Virginia, about what contractors and recyclers need to know about renting and servicing equipment out in the field.

Construction & Demolition Recycling (C&DR): What rental equipment do you find to be the most in-demand for demolition contractors?

Christian Billotto (CB): It varies, but most demolition contractors that are doing heavy demolition are going to want an excavator of some size—usually between 20 tons to about 50 tons, depending on the size and scope of their work.

The other thing we rent that is popular is an ultra-high-reach demolition machine. It has the body of an excavator, but it has a long, straight boom and a long, straight arm that allows you to safely demolish a high structure, like a five- or six-story building. Instead of having to swing a wrecking ball or use explosives, which is sometimes impractical or not feasible on a job, you can systematically and surgically cut the building down.

[These pieces of equipment are staples] nationally, even worldwide.

C&DR: What rental equipment do you find to be the most in-demand for recyclers?

CB: For metal and scrap recyclers, we sell a lot of material handlers. Material handlers have that boom and arm designed more for lifting, so it’s ideal for the job. And you have an orange peel grapple on the end of it … that allows recyclers to sort a big pile of scrap metal in less time. With more versatility, you can sort the nonferrous materials, like the copper and the aluminum, and remove it from the pile of steel without a lot of effort. The other piece of equipment recyclers seek out is material handlers outfitted with a real high-powered magnet that can pick up steel.

Besides material handlers, scrap recyclers [also] want shredders. They buy big shredders that you can run a car through that reduce the material to little bits of metal, which makes it manageable. Also, balers are a big item. Whether you have pickup trucks dumping a load full of empty beer cans or another need to compress material, you put that in the baler. The baler squishes that all together and shoots out a cube of compressed cans. You can reduce your airspace and you get more weight per volume by doing that, [but I should say that Company Wrench does not] sell balers or shredders.

C&DR: What are some common reasons contractors opt for renting equipment over purchasing it?

CB: One reason could be they have a large backlog of work. Things are really busy in the industry right now. They may already have all of their existing fleet of equipment out on a job or being used, and they need to supplement a job with some rental equipment.

Usually, the reason people rent is because they have a shorter-term project and they need something for a single-purpose goal. Let’s say you’ve got your local mom-and-pop demolition company that just uses an ordinary excavator with a bucket and thumb or a grapple, and they are use to tearing down smaller structures, like houses or a local drugstore. Now, they get awarded a job to take down a big warehouse that has a bunch of structural steel. They don’t really want to make the $250,000 investment in a hydraulic shear that they are only going to use for one project. So, they just rent one for a month or two. They rent it and then when they are finished with it, they return it.

C&DR: What is the importance of finding a dealer that has equipment designed specifically for the job at hand?

CB: What [Company Wrench] specializes in is the demolition and scrap recycling industries. The value that we provide is that we understand the industry. Many of us had prior experience in these industries before we came to work on the vendor side of the business. Additionally, our mechanics are trained on that equipment specifically, so they know what they’re doing. This isn’t always the case with your average rental house. … They may not be as well-versed in understanding the purpose or the capability of the equipment that contractors or recyclers need.

C&DR: How can contractors identify service providers that are right for their needs on a given project?

CB: If you are the contractor, the first thing you can do is hop on Google or see what you’ve got available where you are. Say you are a contractor local to Charlotte, North Carolina, and you are not really working outside that 50- or 100-mile radius. Odds are, you are going to do a lot of boots-on-the-ground research and see what vendors are around, and then after you do your due diligence, you can reach out.

When it comes to service, you need to know if you’ve a machine that breaks down in the middle of nowhere that you have support from the people you are renting or purchasing it from. You need to have confidence that they can come out and service it in a timely, efficient and knowledgeable manner.

C&DR: How does having in-house manufacturing and fabrication services benefit contractors?

CB: We have a whole branch of our company called CW Machine Worx. We are a custom shop. … If [customers] need something custom-modified to suit a very specific application—something that just doesn’t come out of the excavator factory, per se—we can cater to their very specific application needs. We’ve got in-house engineering capabilities, so we can design something for them, put together a proposal and present it as a quote to a potential customer. If all goes well, then we are awarded that work, and we do a custom build for customers who need something specialized.

The benefit of that arrangement is that there is a direct line of communication between us and the customer—there is no middleman. It’s just us communicating with the customer and the customer communicating with us, so there is no confusion and we can deliver whatever it is they might need.

C&DR: What should contractors know when working with an equipment rental service in order to keep their machines functioning properly with less downtime?

CB: The customer needs to find out from whomever they are renting from whether the machine in question is a piece of equipment that can easily be serviced by the vendor they are renting from and whether there are parts available should the need arise.

[The sales department at Company Wrench] always tells customers that they might want to purchase some extra parts or wear items in advance. … If you are prepared ahead of time, then you are going to reduce any downtime you might have. It is really good to plan ahead. If you have inventory available, ordered, or you at least know what the lead time is, you don’t all of sudden find yourself in a predicament where your equipment is broken and you’re stuck for three days not able to work because a part is being shipped from the other side of the country.

The author is a contributor to the Recycling Today Media Group.

When it comes to reduction equipment, construction and demolition (C&D) recyclers have a plethora to choose from. From shredders and chippers to tub and horizontal grinders, a variety of machines exist to whittle C&D wood down to bits that can be turned back into useful end products.

But with so many options, including variations within each make and model of machine, choosing the right one can be complex. By evaluating the needs of an operation beforehand, though, operators can make the right choice when it comes time to purchase.

Finding the right fit

When deciding what type of reduction equipment to purchase, operators must first consider two things: the primary material going in and the ideal material coming out. Chippers and shredders are typically used in the first phase of processing, while grinders are often used to further refine material into marketable products.

“Some of the big questions operators have to ask themselves are, ‘What is 95 percent of your material going to be when you're processing? What’s the size of it, what’s the density of it, what are the contaminants in it?’” says Jody Parker, a regional sales manager for Rotochopper, based in St. Martin, Minnesota. “And then, the secondary component to that is, what is it you’re trying to make?”

Chippers are best for quickly processing clean logs and small round wood into chips and sawdust. These are ideal for processing a steady stream of homogenous raw wood into chips for particle board, pellet fuel, paper and pulp and other applications.

Shredders are mainly used to process commingled, contaminated waste streams like municipal solid waste and synthetic materials that are difficult to break apart, like carpet. These machines are typically used to pre-process raw contaminated waste streams and often can’t produce a quality end product.

That is where grinders come in. As perhaps the most versatile piece of reduction equipment, grinders can handle a variety of materials, including logs, whole trees, brush, forestry residue, sorted pallets, waste, agricultural products and shingles. They can also create a variety of end products, including chips, colored mulch, playground cushion, fine-texture fiber and compost.

Grinders also can handle mixed C&D streams with some contamination, depending on the size of their screens. Parker says when dealing with highly contaminated streams, though, they are best used in a second pass to refine material that has already been broken up. Manually picking and batch sorting methods are also effective before passing material through a grinder.

“In a grinder, you can get a really big screen just to bust the material up and try to liberate steel, even liberate rock—anything that might, with a smaller screen, roll around in the grinding chamber longer and create more damage and more wear. Anything you can do to liberate that kind of stuff is beneficial,” Parker says. “In a slow-speed shredder, pulling that material apart and really ripping out the larger pieces of steel is really helpful.”

When it comes to grinders, two main models exist on the market: tub and horizontal.

While tub grinders were once the industry standard, Lars Bergan, another regional sales manager for Rotochopper, says “you now see very few tub grinders in [the C&D] space because they’re not safe.” Since the rotor is exposed at the bottom of the tub in these machines, objects are more susceptible to hurling out of the top, Bergan explains.

Horizontal grinders also have the potential to throw objects, but because the feed openings are smaller, the risk is less than that of tub grinders.

Size, weight and speed

If an operator determines that a horizontal grinder is best suited for his or her needs, the next consideration for choosing the right machine should be the size and weight of the material that will be processed.

Horizontal grinders come in sizes that vary both by their throat opening and by their overall body.

“Basically, the bigger and heavier the wood you’re grinding, the more horsepower and the bigger grinder you want to have,” Bergan says. “Volume plays a role, too. Even if you’re doing smaller material or green waste, but you need to do massive volume, then you’re still going to need a bigger machine. So, it really depends a lot on how you plan on using it.”

The right-sized grinder depends on the material being processed and where it will be placed. Before purchasing a grinder, users should consider whether it will be mobile or fixed. If it will be used in mobile applications, users should make sure it can be transported on all roads it will be trailered to; if fixed, operators need to carefully measure the space it will occupy to ensure it will fit.

“If you’re building something new and can build around the grinder you pick, all the better, but often that’s not the case and people need to fit it into a particular spot,” Bergan says.

In addition to size and weight considerations of the material that need to be assessed, it is important for users to think about the speed with which they’ll process the material. Typically, the more horsepower the machine has, the larger the rotor and powerfeed drum tend to be.

Some processors use grinders as part of a conveying system that constantly feeds material to the machine. Others use grinders only for a couple hours at the end of each day when material has been picked through and preprocessed.

“[The decision] depends not only on how much material you have, but also on how quickly you want to get the job done,” Bergan says.

Diesel vs. electric

Horizontal grinders can be powered by two sources: diesel fuel and electricity.

The more modern electric grinders offer several advantages over diesel, Bergan says.

“The advantage to electric is generally lower energy costs, they’re generally less expensive to buy, they're much quieter and require much less maintenance,” Bergan says. “There are no radiators, no filters or oil changes—all the stuff that goes into having a diesel engine, you don’t have any of that.”

Deciding between the two can come down to where the owner intends to use the grinder. Electric machines are more easily incorporated into conveyor systems, and they don’t present indoor gas emission concerns like diesel-powered grinders do. However, diesel grinders can come in handy in certain outdoor applications. For example, in a mulch yard where wood waste processing is needed in several areas, diesel machines can be moved to different piles of debris instead of having to move the machine to one central location.

“The advantage to diesel is more mobility,” Bergan says. “You can use them in many different places, and they’re easy to move around.”

Other considerations

Along with the aforementioned considerations, several other variables exist among grinders that need to be taken into account before making a purchase.

Grinders require regular upkeep and maintenance, especially on their screens and teeth, which are susceptible to wear and tear. Discharge belts also need to remain tightened to avoid wear. Damage can be reduced by avoiding contaminants, so users should implement a comprehensive presort process, if applicable.

Using the different types of teeth available for grinders can also help users reduce wear, depending on the material they’re handling. Teeth come in several variations for different applications, so choosing the right ones and configuring them appropriately for the specific operation will also cut back on wear and tear.

“I think the flexibility of a grinder is what sets it apart,” Parker says. “The ability to change all those types of teeth and screen sizes so that you can create a bulkier material or a shredded material or a chipping material—it just gives people who are trying to make a different type of finished product, or who are trying to handle different types of incoming material, more options.”

The author is the assistant editor for Construction & Demolition Recycling and can be contacted at tcottom@gie.net.

This time last year, all participants in the steel industry in North America were enjoying healthy conditions, strong pricing and stable markets. This price security carried them through the year—a review of 2018’s Fastmarkets AMM ferrous scrap pricing shows the publication’s Midwest index price for prime grades never fell below $369 or rose above $403 per ton for the entire calendar year.

This unprecedented price prosperity begged the inevitable question: Can ferrous scrap maintain its status quo?

This year delivered an unfortunate answer to that question. With extreme weather conditions, uncertainty over tariffs and challenges from a slowing global economy, scrap values have taken a major hit since January, equating to some of the weakest prices seen in years.

The flatline prices of last year are a stark contrast to this year’s rollercoaster pricing, which industry players hope has reached a bottom. Aside from a brief respite in March, prices the first half of the year were in freefall across all grades. From March to June, both prime and obsolete ferrous scrap values lost, on average, $1 a day.

Even with most ferrous grades experiencing a modest $20 boost in price in August—the first time values have risen since March—prices are down nearly $100 since the beginning of the year.

Despite the slight rise in prices recently, scrap dealers say they were hoping for more out of August and remain cautious about their prospects the rest of the year.

“Everybody thought prime grades would be up $30, and I think everybody’s a little disappointed by how things came up $20 across the board. Now, the talk is we’re hoping for a sideways market for September, but there’s already some talk that the market might be down,” says Willie Miller, the COO of Miller Scrap Iron & Metal Co. of Winona, Minnesota, reflecting on August scrap prices. “I think there’s some uncertainty about what the heck is going on out there.”

Mill mishaps

Prices this year have been plagued, in part, by a glut of supply. Downstream demand from related industries waned, and mills both domestic and overseas took advantage of the initial dip in prices early this year, buying up enough scrap to feed their electric arc furnaces (EAF) well through the spring season.

Coming off of last year, steel mills were feeling confident in their businesses. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum had helped many as intended by discouraging imports of those materials, and capability utilization rates had finally broken past the 80 percent mark set by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a signifier of healthy production.

But some mills grew overzealous with their scrap buying and production, forcing them to adjust operations once summer rolled around. Scheduled mill outages in the summer, some of which lasted longer than anticipated, led to a nosedive in demand. U.S. Steel, for example, has temporarily idled two U.S. mills until “market conditions improve,” according to a company news release in August, leading to temporary layoffs of hundreds of workers.

Steel mills’ difficulties are evident in their recently reported second quarter earnings. All public mills reported weaker second quarter earnings this year compared to the same period last year due to softening end-market demand and weaker prices, especially of hot-rolled coil, which is down nearly $200 per ton since December 2018.

“Second quarter operating income was $11 million, a 47 percent decrease sequentially based on lower ferrous selling values and lower nonferrous shipment,” said Theresa Wagler, the CFO and executive vice president of Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Steel Dynamics Inc., during the company’s Q2 earnings call.

Mills, however, say they are anticipating a more upbeat second half of the year as key end-market demand improves and ferrous prices stabilize.

“Our financial results were lower than our expectations at the start of the quarter. Unusually wet weather and aggressive supply chain destocking impacted mill order rates in the first half of 2019. We have seen lower volumes during the first half of this year resulting in a more challenging price environment,” said John Ferriola, president and CEO of Nucor, Charlotte, North Carolina, during the company’s earnings call. “However, real demand for our products remains strong in key end-use markets. We see healthy conditions in end-use markets that typically account for more than two-thirds of our steel shipments. For this reason, we are cautiously optimistic that pricing has bottomed on most of our products and that volumes should be more closely aligned with real end-use demand in the second half of the year.”

Meanwhile, steelmakers’ capability utilization rates have been teetering on the ideal threshold throughout the summer. As of mid-August, the rate was at 79.8 percent, representing a 0.2 percent decrease from the same period in the previous year, according to the Washington-based American Iron and Steel Institute. Though a mild dip from the previous year, the decrease comes after rates were consistently improving on their previous years’ rates.

Slow flow

Along with plummeting prices, weather was a major talking point among scrap processors and steel mills the first half of the year as heavy rainfall flooded transportation routes and delayed construction and demolition (C&D) projects that may have otherwise contributed to scrap flows.

The wet season carried on longer than normal, leaving some regions still dealing with the effects well into summer. And in some parts of the country, the rain was only followed by extreme heat, further stifling C&D activity as some laborers stopped working by the early afternoon to avoid the hottest part of the day.

“We’ve just got major heat waves down here—in the three digits every day—and that definitely slows [flows] down,” says Jim Shapiro, the owner and vice president of Austin Metal and Iron in Texas. “And then with pricing, it’s kind of the perfect storm.”

While scrap from the manufacturing sector is relatively stable, peddlers have been holding onto obsolete grades in hopes of a market rebound, sources say. Flows from the demolition sector also have been healthy this year, says Andrew DeBaise, Rocky Mountain Recycling executive director and member of the National Demolition Association.

“Overall flows of scrap material have been off between 20 to 30 percent to date compared to previous years, depending on your region. However, the material generated from demolition-related projects has been strong, especially compared to last year. This is one of the few sectors that has remained, partly due to projects that were bid prior to market fluctuations coming to fruition,” DeBaise says.

However, DeBaise adds that demolition can remain busy even when the economy starts to slow—a current happening that economists are predicting may lead to a mild recession within the next year or two based on numerous indicators. Anirban Basu, the chief economist for Washington-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), says risks abound for a recession.

“It's difficult to establish which risk is the most serious, but the list is long: trade disputes, Iran, corporate debt, household debt, federal debt, elevated and vulnerable asset prices, and the specter of next year's elections, which may induce many economic actors, including real estate developers, to embrace a wait-and-see posture,” Basu said in a recent economic report for ABC. “The election's growing imminence may itself be enough to further slow U.S. economic growth.”

Trouble overseas

When demand at home has diminished in the past, exports have often been enough to prop prices up. Exports this year, however, have been somewhat unpredictable.

Last year was a strong one for ferrous scrap exports, rising 14 percent over 2017, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). Initial signals from the export market in 2019, however, are not as promising. Fastmarkets AMM reported in April that January 2019 ferrous scrap export volumes were down nearly 21 percent compared with January 2018, according to U.S. Department of Commerce of data.

Turkish mills of late have been the largest overseas buyers of U.S. ferrous scrap thanks to their large EAF presence. Their purchases this year, however, have been spotty. According to the World Steel Association, Turkey’s crude steel production for June 2019 is down 11 percent from the same period the previous year. In the first three months of the year, it was down nearly 15 percent.

That production has translated to a steep decline of scrap purchases, writes Rolf Willeke, the statistics advisor of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Ferrous Division, on BIR’s website. According to Willeke, the country’s overseas scrap purchases declined nearly 28 percent the first three months of the year compared to the same period in the previous year. Willeke attributes this to U.S. import tariffs on Turkish steel, along with weak long steel demand and weakness of the Turkish lira.

China may have been able to pick up some of the slack as the country continues adding to its EAF capacity, increasing its steel scrap usage by 14 percent the first three months of 2019, according to BIR. But with an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, the country has sought its scrap input elsewhere.

Tariff talks

Despite a weakening global economy, many are predicting a sideways or slightly up market for ferrous scrap prices the rest of the year.

“While overall worldwide economics remain weak, as reflected in continued lower month-over-month PMIs, the end of the summer should bring back some seasonal demand,” says George Adams of SA Recycling LLC, based in Orange, California, on BIR’s website. “With scrap now in tightening supply, it should support current market prices with the potential for upside as we move into the seasonally stronger months.”

Though ongoing tariffs have rippled a wave of uncertainty across the globe, many of the larger U.S. steelmakers continue to praise the ongoing efforts of President Donald Trump and his administration in bolstering the industry.

“The U.S. steel industry continues to benefit from effective trade enforcement. Through May 2019, total and finished steel imports declined by 12 percent and 18 percent from last year's levels. In the last 12 months, approximately 6 million fewer tons of imported steel have come into the U.S. market,” Feriola said during Nucor’s earnings call. “The decrease in imports reflects the cost competitiveness of our domestic steel industry and the success of our industry’s ongoing efforts to see that the rules of trade are enforced.”

As for how tariffs affect scrap prices, the verdict is still out. However, Greg Schnitzer, the president of BIR’s Ferrous Division, estimates that the outcome could prove beneficial.

“Section 232 is nothing new, but as time goes on, the feeling of a resolution grows closer,” he writes on BIR’s website. “I think we would all agree this would be a positive impact for everyone.”

The author is the assistant editor for Construction & Demolition Recycling and can be reached at tcottom@gie.net.

USGBC reveals top states for LEED-certified homes

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released a new report, “LEED in Motion: Residential,” outlining growing green trends in the homes market.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. LEED certification is available for virtually all building types as well as single-family homes, neighborhoods, cities and communities.

The report reveals that LEED-certified homes have grown 19 percent since 2017 and are at an all-time high with nearly 500,000 single-family, multifamily and affordable housing LEED-certified units globally and more than 400,000 units located in the U.S.

The report also outlines the top 10 states for LEED-certified homes in the U.S., with California coming in at No. 1.

On average, LEED-certified homes use 20 to 30 percent less energy than a traditional home, with some homeowners reporting up to 60 percent savings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates Americans spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, where pollutants can be two to five times more concentrated than outdoors. LEED encourages design that maximizes indoor fresh air and uses materials that help reduce exposure to toxins and pollutants connected to asthma, allergies and other respiratory issues.

The top states for LEED green homes are:

1. California—39,296 certified residential units, 46,252,746 square feet of certified space.
2. Texas—24,598 certified residential units, 41,425,633 square feet of certified space.
3. New York—10,876 certified residential units, 12,700,343 square feet of certified space.
4. Washington—10,521 certified residential units, 11,856,316 square feet of certified space.
5. Colorado—8,091 certified residential units, 9,870,268 square feet of certified space.
6. New Jersey—7,646 certified residential units, 8,790,645 square feet of certified space.
7. Ohio—7,402 certified residential units, 9,755,348 square feet of certified space.
8. Oregon—6,729 certified residential units, 7,961,683 square feet of certified space.
9. Maryland—5,966 certified residential units, 9,019,059 square feet of certified space.
10. Georgia—5,891 certified residential units, 7,299,589 square feet of certified space.