Vizio has sued the head of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection over an e-scrap law it says unfairly burdens the TV manufacturer. In a lawsuit filed on June 17 against the commissioner of Connecticut DEEP, Robert Klee, Vizio alleges the state's e-scrap law "is so deeply flawed and unfair that it threatens Vizio's ability to innovate and...

Numbers released late last week by the U.S. EPA suggest the nation's recovery of recyclables is at a standstill, with recycling and composting flat in 2013. Industry experts pointed to the shifting material mix as a primary factor in the stagnant U.S. recycling rate. According to the EPA's nearly 200-page report, the U.S. generated 254 million tons of municipal solid...

A just-released report from the U.S. EPA indicates the 2013 national recycling rate was 34.3 percent, barely budging from 2012's rate of 34.5 percent. According to the annual report, which can be viewed here, the U.S. generated 254.11 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2013 and recovered 87.18 million tons for recycling and composting. MSW generation in 2013 rose...

Leaders at four of the country's largest waste management companies told attendees of last week's Waste Expo conference America's curbside recycling system is in need of a dramatic overhaul. While lending tentative optimism toward the waste industry as a whole, participants of the "Heavy Hitters" panel stressed curbside recycling is no longer the cash cow it used to be. "It's...

An analysis of the recycling programs of the 10 biggest cities in the U.S. shows single-stream collection is the norm – and foam polystyrene and plastic bags are being shooed away from carts. According to the just-updated U.S. Census, the 10 largest U.S. cities are: New York (8.49 million people) Los Angeles (3.93 million people) Chicago (2.72 million people) Houston...

Illinois legislators have unanimously passed a bill that, if signed into law, would count leaded CRT glass stored at a designated landfill cell toward manufacturer recycling goals. After passing the House in April by a vote of 114-0, the Illinois Senate on Tuesday passed the measure 53-0. The bill now needs Gov. Bruce Rauner's signature to become law.Under Illinois' electronics...

The e-Stewards certification of Materials Processing LLC has been withdrawn for one year following a $125,000 fine from Minnesota's Pollution Control Agency. Materials Processing (MPC) was recently fined for stockpiling 2,500 tons of CRT glass in the St. Paul-Minneapolis metro area. Now, an investigation by e-Stewards has found the company was also using an undisclosed warehouse space in Philadelphia to...

Wisconsin appears close to approving a 20 percent funding cut to local recycling programs. The cut, agreed to on May 5 by the Wisconsin Legislature's Joint Finance Committee as part of its larger budget review, will reduce the state's 2015-2016 fiscal year recycling program budget from $20 million to $16 million. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) uses the...

A group led by foam manufacturer Dart Container Corporation has sued New York City for banning expanded polystyrene products. In a legal petition filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York on April 28, the Restaurant Action Alliance NYC claims the city's ban violates a "clear statutory mandate" that directed New York to develop a recycling system...

First quarter results for America's largest publicly traded waste management companies indicate recycled commodity pricing is causing significant losses. Comparing the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2014, recycling-related revenues for Progressive Waste Solutions, Republic Services, Waste Connections and Waste Management were down an average of 20.5 percent, an analysis by Resource Recycling has found. Quarterly financial...