In recent months, a number of communities in North America have inched closer to exploring mixed-waste processing, while other projects have hit roadblocks. Facilities that separate recyclables from garbage (sometimes called "dirty MRFs") tend to stir up heated industry discussion. Some recycling advocates say reliance on those MRFs harms the quality of recovered material and stunts the possibility of recycling...

Sims Recycling Solutions plans to close its processing site outside Baltimore following the loss of a sizable contract to handle devices from U.S. military branches. That contract, which Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS) held with the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for several years, was awarded to a pair of other companies after a bidding process in October.Steve...

Participants of a webinar this week spoke openly about two particularly contentious issues facing CRT glass management: downstream capacity and manufacturer funding. The webinar, hosted by the Northeast Recycling Council's State Electronics Challenge and meant to serve as an update on the CRT recycling landscape, drew more than 450 listeners and featured presentations from Eric Harris, the associate counsel for...

Revamped regulations in China require plastics recycling operations to meet minimum processing benchmarks and a variety of other standards. As first reported by Plastics News, China's Ministry of Industry and Technology announced the guidelines on Dec. 21 "to phase out smaller, less efficient and less sustainable operations." Under the new regulations, which went into effect Jan. 1, new PET bottle recycling...

Universal Recycling Technologies has reached a settlement with the state of New Hampshire over hazardous waste violations identified in 2012. The fine, announced this week and totaling $200,000, stems from a handful of infractions identified during an inspection of the company's Dover, N.H. processing facility by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES). That inspection, according to NHDES, found...

A bill introduced in Ontario would implement full extended producer responsibility for paper and packaging products as the province pushes to increase diversion rates and combat climate change. Since 2002, producers and municipalities in Ontario have split the cost of providing curbside recycling for paper and packaging products. Under the Waste Free Ontario Act, unveiled in November by Glen Murray,...

A town in southern China that's known as one of the world's most notorious destinations for e-scrap is undergoing a government-mandated makeover. According to reports last week from English-language media outlets in China, all informal e-scrap processors in Guiyu will be required to move their businesses to a newly built industrial park by the start of 2016. As of late...

An appeals court in New York has rejected an attempt by the New York City Department of Sanitation to restore a ban on expanded polystyrene food-service products. The decision, issued on Dec. 3 by Angela M. Mazzarelli, a justice of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, puts an end to a lengthy legal battle between the Department...

A global recycling trade group says China has rekindled its scrutiny of imported plastics. According to a report from the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), China's Ministry of Environmental Protection has informed local authorities throughout the country to focus inspections on the quality and legality of imported scrap plastic shipments. In 2013, a similar action by the Chinese government, known...

Officials at New York City's Department of Sanitation intend to fight a court ruling that halted a city ban on expanded polystyrene food service products. The decision was first reported by Politico New York. "We disagree with the ruling, and we are asking a higher court to review the decision regarding the ban on expanded polystyrene," Kathryn Garcia, DSNY's commissioner,...