A co-polyester to boost the properties of recycled PET goes on the market in Europe, and new shredders, wash lines, extruders and melt filters are unveiled. Boosting PET's properties: Swedish chemical company Perstorp has announced the availability in Europe of the Akestra thermoplastic co-polyester, which can be mixed with up to 80 percent recycled PET to improve the plastic's properties....

Last week's E-Scrap 2016 conference brought hundreds of industry leaders to New Orleans for three days of presentations, discussions, deal-making and connection among colleagues. More than 1,200 industry members attended this year's conference, and E-Scrap News photographer Jared Paben was there to document the proceedings.The slideshow below offers a collection of photos from the event. Hover over a photo to...

India ramps up its e-scrap collections, and Sweden is pushing for repair over replacement when it comes to appliances and other consumer products. Sweden: A proposal in the Swedish parliament would offer tax incentives for those who repair items instead of replace them. One bill allows residents to claim half the cost of labor for repairing large appliances on their...

Recycling of CRT panel glass becomes easier in California, and researchers are looking for the industry's help in an analysis of facility safety. CRT recycling: California's governor has signed a bill into law opening up new avenues for the recycling of CRT panel glass. The bill allows scrap CRT panel glass to be recycled into new products, including tiles and...

National sustainability and recycling organizations The Recycling Partnership and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) are teaming up to build a roadmap for a stronger American recycling industry. The initiative has been dubbed ASTRX (Applying Systems Thinking to Recycling), and leaders from the groups behind it say the effort is a push to change the recycling industry on a holistic level...

Flexible film packaging is being accepted at the curb in one Midwest city, and thousands of plastic bags have been diverted from landfill thanks to a group of charitable women. Hefty, Hefty, Hefty: 6,000 households in Omaha, Neb. are now able to use the curbside program to divert plastic film, including items such as candy wrappers and chip bags. The...

Sweden is considering tax breaks to encourage repair, and a store selling food that's been discarded by supermarkets has opened in the U.K. Sweden: A proposal in the Swedish parliament would offer tax incentives for those who repair items instead of replace them. One bill allows residents to claim half the cost of labor for repairing large appliances on their...

The Virgin Islands get serious about recycling, and Waste Management gets support for its stance on materials diversion. Lawmaker action: Legislation regarding a bottle deposit, a plastic bag ban and the implementation of a comprehensive recycling and composting system in the Virgin Islands has moved forward in the U.S. territory. The bills were written in response to fines by the...

SERI fights back against export claims from the Basel Action Network, and Google makes a promise for zero waste at data centers. Certification scuffle: SERI, owner of the R2 certification, is questioning recent allegations made by Basel Action Network (BAN) regarding SERI's approach to e-scrap exports. SERI says BAN, which is tied to the e-Stewards standard, spends more time "disparaging...

Even though we can't see the "cloud" in cloud computing, we can see the environmental effects, according to one blogger. Side effects from the cloud: A post on the Points technology research blog describes the consequences data centers have on the environment, including the amount of e-scrap they generate. The energy efficiency of IT infrastructure is expected to improve, but...