American Zinc Recycling LLC (AZR), a provider of environmental services to the U.S. steel industry, has restarted production at its updated facility in Rutherford County, North Carolina. The facility, which is designed to produce special high grade (SHG) zinc using recycled steel mill dust, has officially restarted and is producing SHG grade zinc metal products. It is expected to produce 155,000 tons of SHG zinc annually.
American Zinc Recycling Corp. (AZR) takes zinc-bearing steel mill dust, a hazardous waste that would otherwise be disposed of in landfills, and recycles it using their waelz kiln technology into Waelz Oxide (WOX), a zinc-based feed that it uses to produce zinc metal at the Rutherford County plant. This year alone, AZR will recycle more than 500,000 tons of dust across its four recycling facilities. Coupled with the work of subsidiary INMETCO, a recycler of stainless steel dust and household batteries, AZR is the largest hazardous waste recycler in the U.S.
AZR re-engineered the Rutherford County plant, which had been idled since early 2016, with upgrades to its best-in-class solvent extraction and metals refining technology. After an initial restart in April of 2019, the Rutherford County facility experienced an accidental fire that caused damage to one area of production. The cause of this fire was thoroughly investigated and as a result, modifications were made in the plant design prior to restart.
AZR’s Rutherford County plant will extend the recycling value chain by refining the WOX into SHG zinc, which is used in common products including galvanizing steel for automobiles, various infrastructure applications, die cast components for appliances and toys. Zinc is also added to soil, vitamin supplements and sunscreen for its health improvement properties. The Rutherford County facility is the only plant in the Western World that produces zinc solely from recycled sources.