The Closed Loop Fund (CLF) issued its first public progress report on Nov. 14. The report dove into CLF's nearly $20 million in initial investments in nine projects since its 2014 founding. Receiving cash infusions from several major companies, CLF provides no-interest and low-interest loans to boost recycling infrastructure and improve sustainable manufacturing technologies. It is part of the investment...

This story originally appeared in the August 2016 issue of Plastics Recycling Update. Subscribe today for access to all print content. Some full-wrap shrink-sleeve labels can confuse optical sorters and degrade recycled resins, which is bad news for PET reclaimers. Yet the labeling format is anything but a waning trend. More and more PET bottles employ the labels, which use...

Government agencies have started cleaning up the toxic aftermath of a fire at a Los Angeles-area metals and e-scrap recycling facility. Clean-up costs are expected to total in the millions of dollars. The U.S. EPA and the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has begun identifying and removing debris from what's being called the Fruitland Magnesium Fire Incident...

Carey Hamilton, executive director of the Indiana Recycling Coalition and a board member of the National Recycling Coalition, has succeeded in her bid for a seat in the legislature. Hamilton, a Democrat, was elected to an Indiana House of Representatives seat with 52 percent of the vote, election returns showed. She beat Republican Connie Eckert for the open House District...

California voters want a statewide ban on single-use plastics bags, and they'd like stores to keep the fees charged for paper and reusable bags, election results show. Voters are supporting Proposition 67 with 51.9 percent of the vote, according to results. A "yes" vote on that measure affirms a statewide ban approved by lawmakers. But a spokesman for the campaign...

Carey Hamilton, executive director of the Indiana Recycling Coalition and a board member of the National Recycling Coalition, has succeeded in her bid for a seat in the legislature. Hamilton, a Democrat, was elected to an Indiana House of Representatives seat with 52 percent of the vote, election returns showed. She beat Republican Connie Eckert for the open House District...

California officials are asking for input on how to appropriately regulate secondary-glass processors with residue rates above 10 percent. The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has scheduled a workshop for Dec. 20 to receive comments on the proposed regulations. Comments can also be submitted via email. The move comes after CalRecycle imposed emergency regulations in early October aimed...

Sustainable Electronics Recycling International has started compiling and publicly posting lists of e-scrap companies with suspended, revoked, expired or reinstated R2 certifications. The nonprofit group administering the R2 certification standard has created a new page on its website reporting the certification changes.According to an update made on Oct. 31, the page shows eight sites with suspended certifications, 18 sites that...

Dell has a reputation for a commitment to e-scrap recycling, including its use of recycled e-plastics in new electronics. Tech site Ars Technica provides a look at the supply chain and end uses for the recovered material. Plastics are separated by hand, as opposed to shredded, at a plant in Texas run by Taiwan-based manufacturer Wistron. They're sorted by both chemistry...

Equipment makers display their latest plastics recycling technologies every three years at the K trade show. Following are details on some of the plastics recycling equipment innovations that were on display at K 2016, which was held Oct. 19-26 in Düsseldorf, Germany: Sortation Unisensor unveiled what it calls the Powersort 360, which is capable of sorting up to 10 tons...