The company says the acquisition strengthens its portfolio of demolition tools and adds additional product segments to its offering.

Kinshofer GmbH, a manufacturer of attachments for truck cranes and excavators based in Holzkirchen, Germany, has acquired a majority share of Trevi Benne S.p.A., a developer of demolition and scrap processing tools for excavators based in Noventa Vicentina, Italy. 

“Kinshofer continues its strategy to provide the industry with a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ solution of outstandingly engineered products to increase efficiency and, more importantly, profitability for its customers,” says Thomas Friedrich, president and CEO of Kinshofer. “The acquisition of Trevi Benne was the next step in our approach to be a global industry leader with a solid local presence.”   

Kinshofer says the acquisition of Trevi Benne is significant for three reasons:  

it strengthens Kinshofer’s portfolio of demolition tools;   

it adds additional product segments to Kinshofer’s offering; and,  

it improves Kinshofer’s distribution channels in markets Trevi Benne has a strong presence.  

Additionally, Kinshofer says it has further enhanced local manufacturing in Italy with its Noventa Vicentina-based vertically integrated manufacturing facilities. Kinshofer says customers will be served quicker and with a wider product range.   

Trevi Benne’s industry success is based on Luca Vaccaro, co-owner and CEO of Trevi Benne, and his team’s 30 years of knowledge. With a committed and experienced workforce, Trevi Benne will continue to develop and sell its products globally. In order to meet the current market requirements, Trevi Benne and Kinshofer will recruit more staff to ensure a swift and professional market launch of the companies’ products within either sales organization. Vaccaro will remain co-owner and CEO of Trevi Benne.   

“The concentration of knowledge and competence, particularly in the demolition sector, will form a powerful center for future developments customers can only benefit from,” Vaccaro says. “The combination of both product ranges will create more ground-breaking innovations for the industry. The whole Trevi Benne team, which will stay on in its entirety, is very excited to be part of this mutual future.”   

Kinshofer’s and Trevi Benne´s employees are working on rapid integration to provide customers worldwide with their comprehensive range of products and services. 

The acquisition expands the company’s services to the central and southern New Jersey area.

Interstate Waste Services Inc. (IWS), Teaneck, New Jersey, has acquired Solterra Recycling Solutions based in Ewing Township, New Jersey. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.  

“We have known the leadership team at Solterra for many years and are thrilled to join forces,” says Mike DiBella, CEO of IWS. “We extend a warm welcome to nearly 300 Solterra employees and look forward to providing Solterra’s customers with the same seamless service.”   

Solterra was founded in 2014 and is a nonhazardous solid waste, organic waste and recycling collection provider serving residential and commercial customers throughout central New Jersey and Philadelphia.  

IWS says the Solterra acquisition will build upon existing collection and processing operations within the central and southern New Jersey area. The expansion allows IWS to reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions by leveraging its waste-by-rail disposal network and facilities.  

“Our teams share a similar culture and mission,” says Ed Apuzzi, CEO of Solterra. “We seek to forge relationships between customers, the environment and technology to create a more sustainable future for our region. Combining our operations gives us the benefit of IWS’s state-of-the-art recycling facilities and vertically integrated operations while remaining a locally owned and operated business.” 

The transportation equipment manufacturer has launched several products it says offer increased weight savings and ride quality.

Hendrickson Truck Commercial Vehicle Systems, a Woodridge, Illinois-based transportation equipment manufacturer specializing in lightweight axle and suspension technology, has announced a suite of new products focused on what it calls a rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) market.

The company’s Softek front steer axle and suspension system, which features Hendrickson’s Steertek front steer axle and integrated with the front mechanical spring suspension and lightweight clamp group, has been scaled to accommodate the medium-duty last-mile delivery market, while still providing weight savings and ride quality. Hendrickson also has incorporated its snake spring technology into the rear suspension system for this platform which it says delivers additional weight savings and optimized ride and stability characteristics.

“Hendrickson has a long history of supplying lightweight suspension products to the heavy-duty transportation industry and today expanded that offering to support the burgeoning medium-duty electric vehicle segment” says Jason Shiffler, business unit director at Hendrickson.

He adds, “Innovative solutions like Softek and snake spring technology deliver not only critical weight savings but also provide excellent ride and handling for the Class 4 and 5 medium-duty delivery van market allowing vehicle manufacturers and fleets alike to maximize capacity in other areas of the vehicle.”

In addition, Hendrickson has made other advancements in the medium-duty market with mechanical suspension components like its Liteflex hybrid composite and steel spring, which it says offers weight savings up to 240 pounds compared with a steel multileaf spring mechanical suspension.

For the heavy-duty market, Hendrickson is offering its Optimaax lightweight forward liftable tandem axle and suspension system for 6x2 vehicles which it says delivers weight savings and helps optimize a vehicle’s energy consumption through its automated liftable technology. Hendrickson says its new product innovations show its commitment to support the EV space, where lightweight products are needed.

The company manufactures and supplies medium- and heavy-duty mechanical, elastomeric and air suspensions, integrated and nonintegrated axle and brakes systems, tire pressure control systems, auxiliary lift axle systems, parabolic and multileaf springs, stabilizers, bumpers and components to the global commercial transportation industry.

The U.S. Commerce Department has lifted a prior tariff on steel made in Ukraine.

United States Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo has announced the U.S. will temporarily be suspending Section 232 tariffs on Ukrainian steel, initially for one year. “Ukraine’s steel industry is uniquely important to the country’s economic strength, employing one in 13 Ukrainians with good-paying jobs,” the department says.

“Steelworkers are among the world’s most resilient—whether they live in Youngstown or Mariupol,” Raimondo says. “We can’t just admire the fortitude and spirit of the Ukrainian people—we need to have their backs and support one of the most important industries to Ukraine’s economic well-being. For steel mills to continue as an economic lifeline for the people of Ukraine, they must be able to export their steel. Today’s announcement is a signal to the Ukrainian people that we are committed to helping them thrive in the face of Putin’s aggression, and that their work will create a stronger Ukraine, both today and in the future."

The department says some of Ukraine’s largest steel communities have been among those hardest hit by the Russian invasion, and the steel mill in Mariupol has become “a lasting symbol of Ukraine’s determination to resist Russia’s aggression.” The department says despite nearby fighting, some Ukrainian mills have started producing again.

The department says that creating export opportunities for steel mills “is essential to their ability to continue employing their workers and maintaining one of Ukraine’s most important industries.”

Raimondo adds, “I want to thank President [Joe] Biden for his leadership in directing us to do all we can to support Ukraine’s people and their economy, as well as the Ukrainian leaders I have had a chance to work with over the past two months. Ukraine’s diplomatic leaders have been essential partners and advocates for their people, and we will continue to do all we can to support their work toward peace, freedom and prosperity.”

U.K.-based organization says packaging makers can fund more recycling.

A London-based think tank and nongovernmental organization (NGO) called Planet Tracker is contending that global plastic container and packaging (PC&P) companies can afford to fund the plastic industry’s “transition toward a sustainable future.”

Planet Tracker says investors in such firms “must exercise their power to drive PC&P companies” to fund a move toward a more recycling friendly or otherwise sustainable model.

Plant Tracker states, “PC&P companies constitute a major component of the plastics supply chain, acting as the link between the oil and chemical giants and the consumer goods companies and are currently locked in a damaging and pollutive cycle of take, make and waste – but their financial capabilities could make them important agents for change.”

According to Planet Tracker, the idea that PC&P companies survive on narrow margins and are therefore poorly placed to finance a sustainable transition is a common misconception. In fact, many of these companies “have the financial firepower to drive meaningful change within the industry,” the NGO says.

Of the 15 PC&P companies analyzed by Planet Tracker, collectively they could afford to raise an extra $6 billion of debt to fund a recycling-centric transition and a further $2.3 billion each year “if they halved their dividends and share buybacks.”

Planet Tracker acknowledges such an option “may not be an appealing prospect to investors in the short-term,” it says its research finds that if PC&Ps “continue to perpetuate this current cycle of waste, assets could end up [stranded], posing a far greater threat to investor returns over the longer term.”

John Willis, director of research at Planet Tracker, says, “PC&P companies are well placed to fund the move towards a more sustainable model – but a dependence on ‘business as usual’ practices are holding them back from implementing these changes.”

The NGO says that, broadly, the return on capital employed (ROCE) and operating margins in the industry are stable and gradually rising, painting a positive picture of healthy cash flow in the sector.

Planet Tracker says its analysis turns the spotlight onto investors, “who have the power to apply pressure to PC&P management teams to protect the long-term viability of these companies and direct more cash flow into investments that prepare for the transition towards a sustainable model.”