GCR Convention Sets Records in Dallas

The ISRI Gulf Coast Region chose “Let’s Go BIG!” as the theme of its 2023 summer convention, held June 20-23 in Dallas, and the event certainly delivered big on that theme. Not only did the convention set an attendance record with 783 registrants, it also boasted a sold-out expo with 94 exhibitors as well as a sold-out golf tournament with 147 registered golfers. The event’s special BBQ & Brews tour also sold out, giving the 50 registrants a memorable experience in Deep Ellum, the Dallas arts and entertainment district. 

This year's GCR convention had a record 783 attendees.

The sold-out GCR expo featured 94 exhibitors.

The BBQ & Brews tour explored Deep Ellum's charms.

The awarding of the annual Israel Proler Award was another big highlight of the GCR convention. This year, GCR selected Joel Litman, president and co-owner of Texas Recycling Inc. (Dallas), to receive the award. In addition to serving as a board member for ISRI national, ISRI’s Paper Stock Industries (PSI) Chapter, GCR, and the Global Recycling Standards Organization, Litman was PSI president from 2012-2014 and ran as a candidate for the ISRI national secretary/treasurer position in 2022. After receiving the award, Litman thanked his family—including his brother and business partner Craig and their late father Stan, who received the Proler Award in 2001—as well as his “business family” and the GCR officers. “Humbly speaking, and looking back at my 39 years in this business, I realize that when you give, you get,” Litman said, concluding, “I feel grateful. I feel blessed. And I feel beyond sustained.”   Beyond the above events, the GCR convention offered a host of social/networking functions—including a breakfast and two receptions in the expo hall, an after-hours party at the famous Gilley’s Dallas, and a joint reception of ISRI’s Young Executives Council and Women in Recycling Council. And, of course, no GCR convention would be complete without an inspiring keynote speaker as well as informative panel sessions. 

The after-hours party at Gilley's Dallas featured a live band, a cigar maker, and a great view of downtown Dallas.

The Deep Ellum tour included a look at the music-themed murals throughout the neighborhood.

This year, Eric Boles of The Game Changers Inc. provided a keynote talk on “Moving to Great: Unleashing Your Best in Life and Work.” On the road to greater success, he said, lack of clarity is often the problem, not lack of talent. If you can’t help your team envision the future, they’ll be hesitant to follow you. One way to establish greater clarity in your company and among your team is to answer the following five questions, Boles said: ■ What do you want? (This question also includes identifying what you want from your team and for them.) ■ Why do you want it? ■ How will you do it? ■ What are the benefits? ■ What’s the cost of inaction? “Clarity is everything,” Boles said. “People are ‘up on’ what they’re ‘in on.’ When you have clarity, it binds everyone. Talent cannot overcome confusion and a lack of clarity.”

Keynote speaker Eric Boles (back row, center) visited after his talk with GCR officers (left to right) Nidhi Turakhia, immediate past president; Alton Schaubhut, first VP and convention chair; Becky Proler, president; Brandi Harleaux, secretary/treasurer; and Chip DeJean, second VP.

Two panel sessions rounded out the content portion of this year’s GCR convention. The first—titled “What We Say Matters—Common Language in Action”—discussed the importance of the words, terms, and general language recyclers use to describe their industry, their companies, and the work they do, with a nod to the common language playbook ISRI developed last year. (Access the playbook by visiting isri.org/playbook and entering your ISRI member credentials.) ISRI COO Holly Arthur moderated this session, which featured panelists Brandi Harleaux of South Post Oak Recycling Center, Mark Weintraub of Reserve Management Group, and John Pitts of Texas Star Alliance (pictured left to right in the photo below).

The ISRI playbook is designed to help recyclers connect more effectively with a public audience, Arthur noted. Key points to better communication include focusing on the recycling industry’s place in the manufacturing supply chain, focusing on the industry’s outputs rather than inputs, sharing personal stories, and pointing out that recycling is evident everywhere in automobiles, bridges, homes, utilities, and more, she said.   The days when the recycling industry could fly under the radar are gone, Harleaux said. “Now it’s time to come above the radar and communicate with people in a way that resonates with them,” she said. That can mean shifting from old terminology—such as “scrap”—to new terminology such as “recycled materials” and focusing on trends such as the circular economy and environmental justice. Pitts agreed, stating, “Whoever wins the terminology wins the war”—especially when it comes to working with government officials and elected leaders.   Too often, Weintraub added, the recycling industry is defined by others who don’t know what recyclers do. “We have to stand up and communicate to our neighbors, to our communities, to our suppliers and tell them who we are, what we do, and our benefit,” he said. “We have to consistently deliver that message and not let others tell our story for us.”

The second panel focused on the ferrous, nonferrous, and paper commodity markets. Joe Pickard, ISRI’s chief economist and director of commodities, led the discussion, which showcased panelists Blake Hurtik of Argus Media, Ibrahim Yucel of CRU, and Megan Workman of Fastmarkets/RISI (pictured left to right in the photo below). 

The U.S. steel market used to be fragmented, but it is much more consolidated now, with more efficient electric-arc furnace steelmakers that are adding sizable new production capacity and steadily integrating into the ferrous scrap industry, Hurtik said. Ferrous scrap prices continue to reflect significant volatility compared with price swings in the past, and the spread between hot-rolled coil prices and prime scrap prices also remains larger than in years past, he noted. The Russia-Ukraine war has reduced the supply of pig iron on the world market, so mills have changed their melt mixes to adapt and some blast-oxygen furnace steelmakers may even make pig iron to fill some of the market gap, Hurtik said. Also, U.S. steelmakers likely will increase their imports of prime scrap from Mexico, which could fill the loss of some prime scrap from Europe.   Looking at aluminum trends, Yucel noted that electric vehicles will affect the composition of Zorba and Twitch scrap grades when they reach the end of their useful lives. That’s because they use fewer secondary aluminum castings than internal-combustion vehicles, but they use more wrought aluminum alloys in the form of sheet, extrusions, and other parts. Zorba and Twitch also could be in oversupply eventually in the U.S. market as shredding output rises to meet new electric-arc furnace steelmaking capacity, Yucel said. 

The expo opening reception featured a live Texas longhorn bull named Bamm-Bamm.

Katrina Cain provided a solo acoustic performance at the expo's closing reception.

Attendees visited with old friends and new at the convention's social functions.

In the copper market, the U.S. is seeing new investments in copper-consuming facilities, which are making the economics of processing copper scrap and selling it to domestic consumers much better, Yucel said. In addition, an anticipated shortage of primary copper in the global market will boost demand for copper scrap going forward.   Turning to paper, U.S. consumption of recovered fiber is down about 5.4% so far this year, but forecasts are calling for a rebound to 4.6% growth by the end of the year, Workman said. Focusing on the OCC and mixed paper markets—which together account for 86% of U.S. recovered fiber consumption—she noted that U.S. mills have significant new capacity coming online at the same time that supplies of U.S. recovered paper are tightening. “Mills are getting increasingly hungry for material,” she said. And though prices for virtually all grades of U.S. recovered paper have declined so far this year, that trend could reverse due to the new production capacity and rising demand for scrap to feed that capacity, Workman said. Other market trends include an ongoing shift from plastic packaging to paper packaging and a growing use of OCC in molded paper products, which will create more demand for U.S. recovered fiber going forward.

The ISRI Young Executives Council and Women in Recycling Council also featured a speaker at their joint reception. There, Jennifer Betts of Magnar Metals shared her experiences using social media to promote the recycling industry, make new business contacts, and attract new business opportunities. “Our industry is fascinating, and we do not showcase it enough online,” she said, noting that her positive online experiences inspired her to launch a media company to help recycling companies get online and grow their businesses. “You are limiting yourself and your company by not using every tool to your advantage,” Betts said. “Social media is an incredible tool to drive growth in your company. This tool can be used across the spectrum from commercial opportunities to human resources.”   The convention wrapped up with a meeting of the GCR board of directors, which reviewed the group’s finances, approved changes to the GCR bylaws, and heard committee reports as well as reports from representatives of each GCR member state/country.

*** For more information on the Gulf Coast Region, visit gulfisri.com or contact one of the following officers: President: Becky Proler, SCR Recycling First VP/Convention Chair: Alton Schaubhut, CMC Recycling Liberty Second VP: Chip DeJean, Louisiana Scrap Metal Recycling Secretary/Treasurer: Brandi Harleaux, South Post Oak Recycling Center