UPM Raflatac has unveiled shrink-sleeve labels that avoid causing problems in today's PET bottle recycling processes. The international labels company in December announced that its undecorated RafShrink PO MDO 40 LS and RafShrink PO TDO 45 HS shrink sleeve label films received critical guidance recognition from the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), a key plastics recycling trade group with a...

Two retired U.S. EPA scientists have spearheaded development of a technology to depolymerize polyester and recover cotton in mixed-material textiles. "We're really trying to do something that's important from the standpoint of making a more effective way of recycling textiles," said Charles Rogers, CEO of BCD Group. "We would like to advance this technology in a way that would be...

The federal government will invest up to $70 million in a new research institute focused on reducing recycling costs and boosting recycled content in manufacturing. E-scrap is one focus of the initiative. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the creation of the Reducing Embodied-energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute, which will be headquartered in Rochester, N.Y. Its goal will be...

California regulators are threatening to bring the hammer down on a carpet stewardship group, saying it has failed for years to grow carpet recycling. The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) says that for the past three years it has warned Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) that its efforts were falling short of legal requirements. It is now...

The federal government will invest up to $70 million in a new research institute focused on boosting recycled content in manufacturing and reducing recycling costs. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the creation of the Reducing Embodied-energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute, which will be headquartered in Rochester, N.Y. Its goal will be to develop technologies to reduce energy usage...

Sustainable Electronics Recycling International is working on updates to the R2 standard, with potential changes in a host of high-interest areas. The group's R2 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has been meeting to consider changes to the standard. Any approved changes to the standard are still a few years away. The TAC is discussing a host of questions. Among the topics...

A team trying to find recycling solutions for multi-material laminated packaging will explore pilot program opportunities next year. It also plans to publish a report evaluating options for recycling flexible films. That's according to a recently released project update from the Multi-Material Laminates Project, part of the group Pac Next. The group is part of the industry-funded Pac Packaging Consortium. Multi-layer...

Keep recycling simple and be patient with generators, because behavior change takes time and requires consistent reinforcement. That may sound like advice for residential curbside recycling programs, but it's also key to establishing a recycling program for plastics coming out of hospitals. A report examining a recently completed pilot project in the Chicago area offers details on opportunities and challenges...

Aluminum giant Novelis reported that its use of recycled inputs has now crossed the 50 percent mark. During the 2016 fiscal year, the Atlanta headquartered company reached 53 percent recycled inputs, its highest to date, according to its latest sustainability report. The number is up from 49 percent in 2015 and 46 percent in 2014. Novelis uses as a baseline for...

A man was sentenced to five years in prison for a bottle redemption fraud scheme that bilked California out of millions of dollars, according to state authorities. David Scott Anderson, former owner of Arizona-based Mission Fiber Group, pleaded guilty to two counts of beverage container redemption fraud, with each case pegged at $4.24 million, and a third count of attempted...