An industry-funded ocean plastics prevention initiative has received support from a number of new partners, including brand owners, a chemicals giant and an intergovernmental group. Closed Loop Partners announced this week that the collaborative Closed Loop Ocean effort has added The Coca-Cola Company, Dow Chemical Company, Kimberly-Clark, and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) as...

Wheels are in motion to resume operations at an idled plastics recycling facility outside Baltimore. But if it does start up again, it will do so without one of its original partners. The Dundalk, Md. QRS facility, which launched as a joint venture between QRS Recycling and Canusa Hershman Recycling, suspended operations last summer. As a plastics recovery facility (PRF),...

Steel and aluminum imports have been singled out by the White House, and though plenty of questions linger about the development, prices for recyclables could jump in the short term. In March 1 remarks, President Donald Trump said he plans to impose import tariffs of 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum, measures he said would be in...

Avangard Innovative recently installed a customized recycling line at its LDPE recovery facility in Houston. The system is aimed at tackling an issue the company faced while processing commercial film: odor. Avangard Innovative processes and repelletizes retail film at its Houston recycling plant. German equipment manufacturer Starlinger was chosen to provide the recycling lines for the facility. Avangard installed the...

A new Tomra system adds laser technology to the sort line, increasing product purity without slowing throughput. The company’s laser object detection (LOD) system complements other sorting technologies, such as near-infrared (NIR) sensors, by targeting spectral and special characteristics optical they can't perceive. “NIR technology cannot detect item such as black plastic and rubber, glass and other waste items,” said...

A lithium-ion battery expert says smartphone reuse trends will hamper the ability to use mobile device batteries as a major source of cobalt. Hans Eric Melin, managing director of consultancy Creation Inn, recently authored a report on lithium-ion battery recovery. He also wrote an article about factors hampering battery recovery from smartphones. Samsung recently announced its intention to recover cobalt...

Two recently released reports provide snapshots of film and non-bottle rigid plastics recycling. The material types have seen collection gains but processing challenges. Research group More Recycling authored the latest editions of the annual reports on behalf of the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Although the studies, which cover 2016, note that film and rigids each saw collection increases of well...

During a plenary session at the Plastics Recycling Conference last week, major exporters opened up about alternative markets, quality improvements, and operational and contractual changes they’ve made in response to China’s import restrictions. Although some exporters say they’re waiting to see whether China makes more changes before adjusting their operations, others, including the nation’s largest hauler, are moving forward under...

Extended producer responsibility rose to the forefront of debate in Connecticut as a strategy to reduce packaging waste in line with state mandates. A committee tasked with advising lawmakers during the coming legislative session recently split on the strategy, but the majority advised against it. Spurred by legislative action passed early last year, one of the committee’s chief end goals...

Two recently released reports provide snapshots of film and non-bottle rigid plastics recycling. The material types have seen collection gains but processing challenges. Research group More Recycling authored the latest editions of the annual reports on behalf of the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Although the studies, which cover 2016, note that film and rigids each saw collection increases of well...