Electronics keep getting smaller and lighter, but the Computer Recycling Center keeps boosting diverted weights each year. The key is education and outreach. “We would like to think that while there are certainly many individuals and organizations in southern Missouri that are not aware of the dangers and hazards of waste electronics, we have made an impact on the area...

Legislative movement on a pair of bills in the Hawkeye State has drawn recycling industry interest in recent days. The Iowa Recycling Association (IRA) recently won a sought-after amendment to one piece of legislation, while it continues to fight against another. Bottle bill repeal A bill that would eliminate the state's beverage container deposit program is advancing in the House...

The Plastics Recycling 2017 conference in New Orleans drew roughly 1,700 attendees and was marked by vibrant education sessions and a packed trade show. In its 12th year, the event brought together equipment companies, resin producers, reclaimers, converters, brand owners, exporters, brokers, trade association leaders and more. It was the highest attendance ever for the conference, which was held this...

Advances in plastics recycling equipment and chemistry - and a couple of recycled content products - took the spotlight at the second-annual Plastics Recycling Showcase. Organized by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), the showcase was held in conjunction with the Plastics Recycling 2017 conference in New Orleans. Innovations chosen for the 2017 showcase were announced during the APR Technical...

Ikea and an Italian partner have developed a recycled PET foil, which is being used in kitchen cabinet fronts. The furniture designer and worldwide retailer says it worked with Italian company 3B to create the foil. The material is being used as a laminate around reclaimed wood in the new Kungsbacka line of kitchen fronts. "The biggest challenge was to create...

European stakeholders are developing an innovative system to recycle plastics from cars, electronics and contaminated streams. The European Union-funded project is called Life Eco-Methylal, and it's being coordinated by the Spanish AIMPLAS plastics technology institute. Experts at AIMPLAS recently authored a paper about the project for Plastics Recycling Update. Life Eco-Methylal is using a catalytic hydro-gasification plasma (CHGP) process to convert...

Dell's announcement that it will use HDPE recovered from Haiti's beaches, waterways and adjacent streets in its packaging garnered headlines far and wide. But in a recent interview with Plastics Recycling Update, a company official made clear the effort is about more than a quick hit of good public relations: The technology giant is working to expand its use of...

A major manufacturer of recycled-content fabrics has received the go-ahead from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to create rPET for food applications. Unifi, Inc., which owns the Repreve brand of recycled polyester fabrics, received an FDA letter of no objection (LNO) allowing the use of its technology to recycle post-consumer PET into food packaging used at room temperature or below....

A nonprofit polymers R&D group announced the launch of a research project looking at boosting recycled content in food packaging. Norner Research, a Norway-based group, will lead the new "FuturePack" project, which is financed with a 2.5 million euro (about $2.65 million) grant from the Norwegian Research Council, as well as money from various industrial partners. FuturePack will will focus...

Belgium-based industry association Petcore Europe is seeking more members to join its working group focused on the recycling of opaque and otherwise difficult-to-recycle PET packaging. The group, which originally kicked off in May 2016, is called the ODR Working Group (ODR stands for "opaque and difficult-to-recycle"). "As PET is now expanding beyond transparent bottles and thermoforms into new applications such...