Nebraska doles out grants for recycling market development and other materials recovery initiatives. Colorado, meanwhile, is accepting applications for waste-diversion efforts. Formula grants awarded: New Jersey has awarded $14.3 million in grants to help implement and enhance recycling efforts at the local level. The funding, which was based on 2014 recycling performance, was awarded through the Recycling Enhancement Act. The...

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The Association of Plastic Recyclers describes the relationship between plastics recovery and sustainability, and recycled-plastic products on two continents are highlighted. Repreve expands to Vietnam: Unifi, Inc. has expanded its Repreve brand of recycled PET fiber to Vietnam. The company licensed the manufacturing, sales and distribution of Repreve filament yarn in Vietnam to Century Synthetic Fiber Corp., headquartered in Ho...

A leader in a German village vows to fight food scrap collection, and an online panel will discuss ways to reverse the U.K.'s falling recycling rate. United Kingdom: The Guardian newspaper will host an online panel to explore solutions to the country's falling recycling rate. The panel will include representatives from Linpac, TerraCycle, Suez Recycling and Recovery UK, Recoup and...

A couple of cities consider adding curbside service, and two other municipalities wrestle with the difficulties of providing recycling service to apartment buildings. Scan do: A French tech company has created a device that scans barcodes on packaging and then lets a consumer know whether a particular product is recyclable or not. The technology, called Eugene, is made to be...

Oregon awards $1.2 million to support materials diversion efforts, and California makes $24 million available to propel organics processing facilities. Wide-ranging grants: The state of Oregon has awarded more than $1.2 million in grants for waste reduction, reuse, diversion and materials management planning efforts. The funds were distributed to 34 local governments and nonprofit groups, according to the Oregon Department...

A group provides an update on its research into the recycling of multi-material laminated packaging, and post-consumer plastics are being used in a new insulation product. Boosting PLA recycling: Often marketed as compostable or biodegradable, the bio-derived resin PLA currently has a low recycling rate. But efforts are afoot to test sortation and downstream markets for recovered PLA. A recent...

China could hold enormous device-refurb opportunities, and BAN pushes for policy changes in South America. Money on the Mainland: "It's virtually an untapped market." That's how Kerry Chen, an electronics refurbishment entrepreneur in China, describes the smartphone resale possibilities in the world's most populous nation. Chen and his Shanghai-based company are profiled in a recent post on Bloomberg Technology. Campaign...

Apple's earbuds get a zero on the repairability scale, and scrap writer Adam Minter is planning another book. Rosy outlook: IBISWorld has updated a research report examining the electronics recycling sector. It predicts the market to earn $7.5 billion in revenue in 2016. Junkyard Planet part 2: Adam Minter, the author of "Junkyard Planet," plans to release a new book,...

A documentary film investigating the ocean plastics problem heads to theaters, and a new technology from France scans packaging barcodes to tell consumers the details on recyclability. Down on the farm: Minnesota farmers now have access to agricultural film recycling. Revolution Plastics operates the program and has handed out collection containers to more than 130 farmers already. Coming attraction: A...