The administrator for the UK's extended producer responsibility program for packaging has issued its first invoices to packaging producers, marking the start of a major shift in how household packaging waste is funded.

At the Paper and Plastics Recycling Conference in Chicago, industry leaders said extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs for packaging are changing how the US handles residential recycling, but warned that uneven state rules will slow the transition.

Basel Action Network says US e-waste exports to Southeast Asia are surging, driven by brokers posing as recyclers but acting mainly as shippers, a “hidden tsunami” the group says that should trigger regulatory and certification reviews.

FV Recycling, a commercial and industrial recycler based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has acquired Mid America Paper Recycling of Chicago, strengthening its material brokerage and logistics network.

A coalition of paper and packaging leaders is launching a national effort to make poly coated paper products, such as cups and ice cream tubs, a routine part of curbside recycling.

At the Paper and Plastics Recycling Conference in Chicago, industry leaders said extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs for packaging are changing how the US handles residential recycling, but warned that uneven state rules will slow the transition.

Assurant has expanded its automation toolkit with the acquisition of OptoFidelity’s mobile device testing portfolio, a move the company said will accelerate diagnostics and raise refurbishment capacity across its global Device Care Centers.

Born and raised in Algeria, David Daoud took an unlikely route to the world of electronics recycling. Having trained as an oil and gas engineer, he swapped desert heat for Boston snow in 1990, earning a master’s in international economics and eventually finding his way into data analysis at Harvard.

At a recent Washington Department of Ecology webinar focused on how policy can shift fashion toward reuse, circular-economy advocate Rachel Kibbe argued that a targeted tax change could make secondhand purchases more affordable while helping states prepare for new recycling rules.

Glacier, the Amazon-backed AI and robotics company, has installed its sorting technology at Penn Waste’s MRF in York County, Pennsylvania, in a project supported by Cox Enterprises that aims to lift plastic recovery and improve fiber quality for mills.