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...

A legislative effort to update Iowa’s bottle bill has failed, as state lawmakers declined to send it out of committee for further consideration. House File 2155 would have expanded the scope of beverage containers covered by the deposit law. It also included an increase in the handling fee, which distributors must pay to redemption centers or retailers that accept containers...

One might assume materials recycling takes a backseat to other priorities on a military installation, but for well over a decade a Georgia military jurisdiction has proven otherwise. Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield (FS/HAAF), a U.S. Army Installation located near Savannah, Ga., serves as home to the 3rd Infantry Division and has a total population of over 54,000, including active and...

A new ocean plastics prevention effort connects brand owners with collected oceanbound material that can be used in manufacturing. A key stakeholder recently described the four-step approach the project will entail, and what that will look like on the ground. The Lonely Whale nonprofit organization runs several marine plastics-focused projects, each taking a different route toward tackling the issue. One...

A Samsung lithium-ion battery manufacturing subsidiary is exploring investment in recycling companies to recover cobalt and other materials, as demand climbs for the metals. Samsung SDI, which makes automotive and small-form lithium-ion batteries, is looking to solidify a long-term supply of cobalt amid skyrocketing prices and increased demand. The company plans to buy a stake in a battery recycling company,...

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),...

Market disruption from Chinese import restrictions has led Chinese companies to examine investments in the U.S. recycling industry - but that’s not without precedent. An Ohio processor recently expanded on a similar partnership it entered after the last major Chinese imports crackdown. Arch Polymers, located in the Columbus, Ohio area, was formed through a partnership between a U.S. plastics broker...

Municipal programs are often short on funds, and it’s easy for recycling outreach to fall on the back burner amid budget constraints. East Hartford, Conn. recently took action on the issue by partnering with a plastics industry initiative. According to a program leader in East Hartford, the Wrap Recycling Action Program (WRAP) can substantially boost film diversion and help shift...

Credit: Eric Dykstra Changes in the end-of-life stream are prompting the oldest state electronics recycling program in the country to rethink its processor payment system. California regulators are considering splitting the program’s processing payment system, through which state government pays e-scrap processors a standard rate for all covered electronic waste (CEW), into two separate rates. One rate would be paid...

Credit: sirtravelalot/Shutterstock An e-scrap company is accusing a Sprint subsidiary of failing to follow through on a supplier contract. The processor is asking for roughly $1.7 million in damages. Los Angeles-headquartered IT Asset Partners (ITAP) filed suit in December against Sprint/United Management Company, a subsidiary of Sprint Corporation. The complaint was filed Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court for the...