Updates 6672

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE), Stockholm, Sweden, has acquired the Telescopic Handler business unit from UpRight Inc., Selma, Calif., which includes six models of compact equipment ranging from 6,000 pounds to 8,000 pounds in both low- and high-boom versions. The acquired products will be developed further and launched globally under the Volvo brand in 2003.

Gundle/SLT Environmental (GSE) Inc., Houston, has agreed to acquire the stock of Serrot International Inc., Henderson, Nev., from Houston-based Waste Management Inc. for $30 million.

SCS Engineers, Long Beach, Calif., has acquired Environmental Business Solutions (EBS), San Diego.

Announcements

Hustler Conveyor Co., St. Charles, Mo., has announced the completion and startup of its Mega-Shredder Downstream System for Chicago-based General Iron, and its Single Stream System at the Burbank Recycling Center, Burbank, Calif., which is operated by BLT Enterprises.

Autocar LLC, Union City, Ind., has announced the creation of six new sales regions: Northwest, Southwest, North Central, South Central, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Houston-based Waste Management Inc. has announced that it will cut approximately 2,000 jobs and one layer of management, or about 3.5 percent of its 57,000 employees, as part of a restructured business plan to align its collection, transport, recycling and disposal operations with specific market areas. The company expects to create annual savings of about $100 million.

Perma-Fix Environmental Services Inc., Gainesville, Fla., has announced that its subsidiary, East Tennessee Materials and Energy Corp., has treated hazardous radioactive waste from its advanced mixed waste treatment facility at the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Department of Energy's K-25 plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. A total of 1,100 drums of processed waste now have been shipped for final disposal.

Awards

James Davis, systems engineer for Cram-A-Lot/J.V. Manufacturing, Springdale, Ark., has been named engineer of the year by the Waste Equipment Technology Association (WASTEC), Washington, D.C.

The California Materials Exchange Program (CalMAX), sponsored by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB), Sacramento, has awarded the CalMAX 2001 Connection of the Year Award to Gold Mine Natural Food, San Diego, and the Children's Museum of Los Angeles for their programs to reuse surplus materials and divert waste from landfills.

International Truck and Engine Corp.'s Springfield, Ohio, operation has won the national 2001 PBT Cup, given by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR), for its accomplishments in pollution prevention.

Peterbilt Motors Co., Denton, Texas, was ranked the highest in the conventional medium duty truck segment for J.D. Power and Associates' 2001 Medium Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study.

The Hawk Ridge Compost Facility, Unity, Maine, operated by New England Organics, Falmouth, Maine, has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2001 National Biosolids Exemplary Management Award.

Call for Applications

The U.S. Composting Council (USCC), Hauppauge, N.Y., is taking applications for participation in the 2002 Seal of Testing Assurance Program (STA), which began in January 2002. For more information, contact the USCC's business office. Phone: (631) 864-2567.

Contracts

American Baler Co., Bellevue, Ohio, has made Industrial Electronic Control Services (IECS), Hermitage, Tenn., its exclusive dealer for the state and has added Nalexa Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., as its exclusive dealer for the state.

Waste Options Inc., Warwick, R.I., has received a contract from the Iberia Parish Council, New Iberia, La., to design a $6 million composting facility to be built within two years.

Mack Trucks Inc., Allentown, Pa., has announced that employees represented by the United Auto Workers have ratified a three-year master contract covering about 3,700 people at Mack facilities in four states. The new contract will expire on Oct. 1, 2004.

Gardner, Mass.-based ElectroniCycle Inc. has received a statewide recycling contract from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Augusta. Through the contract, ElectroniCycle will provide post-consumer repair, re-use and recycling options for at least 22 Maine cities and counties.

Fiscal

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Allied Waste Industries Inc. has reported adjusted fourth-quarter net income of $7.4 million, compared with net income of $41.7 million for the same quarter last year. The company also has reported a net loss of $13.36 million, excluding acquisition costs, non-cash income tax adjustments and a deferred debt write-off, compared with net income of $18.64 million for the same quarter last year.

Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., has reported fourth-quarter 2001 sales and revenues of $5.10 billion, compared with sales and revenues of $5.11 billion for the same quarter last year. The company also has reported a $264 million profit, the same profit for the same quarter last year.

McClain Industries Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich., has reported a fourth quarter 2001 net loss of $2.37 million, compared with a net loss of $1.71 million for the same quarter last year. The company also has reported a net loss for 2001 of $4.99 million, compared with a net loss of $85,854 for 2000.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Republic Services Inc. has reported fourth quarter 2001 adjusted net income of $47.2 million, not including a non-cash, after-tax charge of $86.1 million, compared with adjusted net income of $56.5 million for the same quarter last year. Revenues for the quarter were $563.5 million, compared with $529.1 million for the same quarter last year.

Waste Connections Inc., Folsom, Calif., has reported 2001 fourth quarter revenue of $100.8 million, compared with revenue of $82.8 million for the same quarter last year, and operating income of $26.2 million (excluding $1.7 million in charges), compared with operating income of $21.6 million for the same quarter last year.

Legal

BFI Transfer Systems of N.J., Linden, has filed a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey in U.S. federal district court, charging that state regulators have unconstitutionally blocked a $350 million barge-to-rail project that would take garbage from New York City, barge it to a Linden transfer station, load it on trains and send it to landfills in the South.

A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed late last year by the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA), Washington, D.C., challenging Wisconsin's new $3 per ton garbage tipping fee. Because the fee meets the definition of a tax, the judge ruled that the lawsuit should go to the state court instead of federal court.

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to consider reviving several Virginia interstate waste and flow control restrictions that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Richmond, struck down late last year. Specifically, the appeals court struck down laws that limited out-of-state waste, tightened restrictions on large trash-hauling trucks and banned garbage barges from three Virginia rivers.

Merger

Trailer Transit Inc. has merged with Power Express Inc., both based in Porter, Ind. The companies have combined efforts under the Trailer Transit name and will continue to be based in Porter.

New Divisions

Sierra International Machinery, Keller Texas, has announced its new Recycling and Solid Waste division, also located in Keller.

Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins Inc. has unveiled the Fleetguard Emissions Solutions division within its filtration business unit to create and sell solutions to treat byproducts from engine combustion and provide ways for customers to meet tightening emissions regulations.