Oregon-based company Agilyx will build a system capable of extracting styrene monomers from PS. The company announced it has received financing for the project, which will have a capacity of 10 tons per day. The processing line will be Agilyx's first dedicated to polystyrene pyrolysis. But it isn't the first time the company has recycled polystyrene into styrene monomers, which can be...

Connecticut's manufacturer-funded electronics recycling law has boosted recycling volumes and reduced municipalities' disposal costs, but changes could improve the program, a report says. The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), a Boston-based nonprofit group, released a report examining four extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws in Connecticut. The study, funded by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), looked at EPR programs...

Researchers have launched a project to measure the depth of demand for post-consumer recycled plastics in the U.S. and Canada. Moore Recycling Associates and Plastic Forming Enterprises, an independent plastics testing and R&D facility, are starting an end-market demand study this month to better understand the supply and demand ratio for scrap plastics. The goal is to collect high-quality data on...

A host of billboards, radio messages, online ads and outreach events will pop up within the next couple of months in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. Their message: Recycling plastic bottles bolsters employment. The "Your Bottle Means Jobs" campaign will launch in the March to May time frame in that metropolitan area, home to roughly 2 million people. The...

Maryland lawmakers are holding hearings on legislation that bans expanded polystyrene food-service products and packing peanuts in the state. House Bill 229 prohibits the sale and distribution of EPS food-service and loose fill packing materials beginning in 2018. The companion bill in the Senate is Senate Bill 186. No U.S. state has banned EPS packaging, though measures are in place...

New Life Electronics Recycling has indicated it has no assets and owes a total of more than $1 million to dozens of creditors. As a result, Oswego, Ill.,-based New Life submitted a voluntary Chapter 7 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Illinois. It was submitted Jan. 15. Illinois Secretary of State records show the company...

Within two years, nine out of every 10 hair care product bottles sold by Procter & Gamble in Europe will have recycled content, the company recently announced. And some of the Head & Shoulders containers will even sport HDPE recovered from beaches. "The increased use of PCR (post-consumer resin) across our hair care portfolio of brands demonstrate our continued commitment...

Carton recycling is now available for 60 percent of U.S. households, meaning the packaging can begin carrying the "chasing arrows" symbol and "please recycle" text. Industry group Carton Council of North America announced the milestone on Jan. 24. The 60 percent figure is important because, under the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Green Guides, it means carton recycling is now available to...

The future will bring substantial changes in the e-scrap recycling world, and companies will have to adapt to remain competitive, industry leaders said at the International Electronics Recycling Congress. One of those changes will be the increasing adoption of the Internet of Things, or a multitude of wirelessly connected devices, some small and wearable. Overall, devices are getting smaller, product...

Half of all plastic packaging could be profitably recycled if improvements are made to its design and to recovery systems, according to a report. Another 20 percent could be converted to reusable formats, and the remaining 30 percent will likely never be recyclable without fundamental design changes. Those were some conclusions from a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and...