European coalitions representing electronics manufacturers have launched an internet-based information service designed to help processors better recycle devices. The Information for Recyclers (I4R) Platform offers resources to help processors identify components that should be separated for special treatment. European Union law already requires manufacturers to provide information to recycling companies on how to best handle each type of device sold...

A Singapore leader says the small Southeast Asian country will implement extended producer responsibility for electronics by 2021. Facing a low recycling rate for electronics, the island country of nearly 6 million people will implement a mandatory collection and recycling program, said Amy Khor, senior minister of state for the Environment and Water Resources. She was speaking at a debate...

Right-to-repair legislation has shown up in many state legislatures this year. California is set to be next. A Democratic member of the state Assembly, Susan Talamantes Eggman, will introduce the California Right to Repair Act. The legislation, similar to other right-to-repair bills around the country, would force electronics manufacturers to provide independent repair shops and individual consumers with the information,...

Composite decking manufacturer Trex saw significant boosts in sales last year, in part due to China's impacts on recovered PE markets. Trex, a Winchester, Va.-based maker of composite lumber products, brought in $565 million in sales last year, up 18 percent year over year. The publicly traded company recorded a net income of $95 million, up 40 percent over 2016....

A robotic sorting system, PET packaging breakthrough and melt filter advancement took the limelight in this year's Plastics Recycling Showcase. The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) recognized three projects as part of the third-annual showcase event. They were announced at the APR Technical Forum, which was held in conjunction with Plastics Recycling 2018 in Nashville, Tenn. in February. "These companies...

This story originally appeared in the February 2018 issue of Plastics Recycling Update. Subscribe today for access to all print content.   As plastics reclaimers know all too well, bale yields have fallen. One of the culprits in the PET realm is the growth of shrink-sleeve labels, which are capable of muddling the sorting, washing and drying steps. Shrink-sleeve labels,...

President Trump will nominate a top chemical industry attorney to serve as the head of a U.S. EPA office that oversees waste management and recycling. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Peter C. Wright would serve as assistant administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM). Wright has worked for Dow since 1999 and currently serves as managing...

Casella Waste Systems ended a good year on a bad note. China's import restrictions dented recycling revenues for the Northeast company last fall. Rutland, Vt.-based Casella Waste Systems brought in $62 million in its recycling business in 2017, up nearly 18 percent year over year. For the fourth quarter, however, Casella encountered a very-unlucky number: Recycling revenues totaled $13 million,...

A project in the European Union seeks to replace aluminum and other barrier materials in multi-layer films with recyclable bio-derived polymer coatings. The RefuCoat project is coordinated by the Spanish plastics research center AIMPLAS. Susana Otero, head of the Functional Printing and Coatings department at AIMPLAS, recently wrote a white paper for Plastics Recycling Update explaining the project. "Currently, metallised...

The European Union will provide funding to help formalize e-scrap recycling in a West African country that has been at the center of heated material export debates. The EU will provide 1.2 million euros (about $1.46 million) to the E-MAGIN Ghana project over the next four years, according to Recycling International. The project launched on Feb. 9 in Accra, the...