PET depolymerization company Loop Industries has agreed to purchase a 150,000-square-foot site for its first manufacturing facility. The Terrebonne, Quebec-headquartered company uses a heatless, pressureless process to break down PET into its components, which can then be used to make new plastic. The process can handle colored and opaque PET and polyester that's difficult to recover, such as fibers used...

As part of an effort to help boost market demand, the Association of Plastic Recyclers will hold a joint meeting with an industry group that counts 150 consumer brand companies as members. APR's meeting this month in Pittsburgh will be co-located with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition's SPC Advance event. "This meeting presents a unique opportunity for APR to discuss key...

For Sonoco Recycling, which collects, sorts, and sells recycled materials, China's imports restrictions have particularly stung in one area: mixed-paper bales. "From an overall volume and business standpoint, the biggest single impact we see today is on the mixed-paper side," said Mike Pope, president and general manager of Sonoco Recycling. Pope recently spoke with Resource Recycling to explain how his...

In Canada, a number of companies are tackling difficult plastic streams without using traditional mechanical recycling processes. One of them, Pyrowave, uses microwaves to depolymerize polystyrene scrap and has recently made some strong steps forward. In September, Pyrowave was selected by the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) as one of the country's top 20 innovative technology companies. That means it will...

A polymer modifier technology was used compatibilize different resins in multilayer packaging so they could be recycled into new garbage bags. Those bags were then used by volunteers to clean plastics from coastlines. Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, a unit of DowDuPont Materials Science, proved its Retain polymer modifier to compatibilize layers of EVOH and PE in industrial scrap films....

International yarn producer Aquafil will invest $10 million to build an Arizona operation generating nylon pellets from post-consumer carpet scrap. The Italy-based company recycles polyamide in fishing nets and carpets into yarn for use in carpets and garments. A key step in the process occurs in its Slovenia operations, where a depolymerization technology is used to chemically break down the...

A crystallization dryer from EREMA allows PET reclaimers to retrofit their existing lines to sell into the higher-value food and drink packaging sectors. By installing the company's Multi-Purpose Reactor (MPR), a reclaimer can decontaminate and dry PET before it enters a third-party extruder. The product is marketed as the entry model into the food-grade market. "The MPR is becoming increasingly...

In this section in July, we featured a MRF that hangs over the waters of New York Harbor: Sims Municipal Recycling’s Sunset Park facility in Brooklyn, N.Y. This month, we travel to the West Coast to explore Recycle Central, another high-tech MRF standing beside the sea. The MRF, which sits on Pier 96 on San Francisco Bay, sorts residential material...

Joe Pickard speaks at the Resource Recycling Conference. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals recovered from electronics and other sources have been volatile of late. Such uncertainty could continue as China considers limits on taking in some metal grades. That's according to a presentation from Joe Pickard, chief economist and director of commodities at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). He...

U.S. and Canadian end users could consume more of the recovered plastics generated domestically if prices and specifications meet their needs. But a handful of converging market trends are standing in the way of significant growth. "The barriers are not enough price advantage and not enough PCR (post-consumer resin) available that matches the specifications," said Nina Bellucci Butler, CEO of...