A recycled paper mill operator and packaging producer will be purchased by WestRock for $3.5 billion. KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation, which operates four paper mills including two with recycled paper capabilities, will be acquired by WestRock in the coming months, the parties announced Monday. About 22 percent of KapStone’s 3 million tons per year output is from recycled fiber....

Five brands recently made public commitments to produce recyclable packaging or increase their recycled content by 2025. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced the new corporate vows during the World Economic Forum this month. The organization noted there are now 11 companies that have made these commitments in recent months - six brand owners in October announced their plan to meet...

A mixture of urban, suburban and rural communities can create substantial challenges for a municipal recycling program that includes them all. For Prince George’s County in Maryland, those challenges have been met and overcome with aggressive recycling goals and steady improvements through the years. Prince George’s County has 900,000 residents, making it Maryland’s second-most-populous county, but it is the top...

Credit: Dmitry-A/Shutterstock A digital network geared toward the reuse and refurbishment sector launched last week. It has the simple goal of connecting clients with reputable vendors. The E-Reuse Network (ERN) allows processors providing various services to list offers and deals, which are available to network members. Members can then write reviews and offer feedback to the vendors. Those vendors could...

Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock The recycling industry has not escaped the fallout from a tight trucking market. Recent regulatory movement and a growing driver shortage have contributed to rising freight costs, just months after extreme weather impacted the shipping sector. “We’re already in a pro-carrier environment, and we think this will continue for quite a while,” said Avery Vise, president of trucking...

Credit: ND700/Shutterstock Cascade Asset Management has released its latest annual report based on the company’s ITAD operations, and it presents positive trends over the past year and an optimistic forecast for the future. The number of assets Madison, Wis.-headquartered Cascade sold last year grew by more than 18 percent, company CEO Neil Peters-Michaud said. Meanwhile, the average cost to the...

Credit: Jamakosy/Shutterstock A European electronics research consortium celebrated the first Circular Electronics Day this week, an effort to promote reuse and recycling. The occasion, designated Jan. 24, aimed to inform consumers and large enterprise generators about opportunities for recycling and reuse of retired devices. It was organized by a research project made up of diverse organizations including government agencies, OEMs,...

Nearly two-thirds of recyclables exported out of California have been bound for China in recent years, and as the Asian behemoth closes its doors to those imports, the state’s recycling industry is feeling the hit. In 2016, California's exports of recyclables amounted to 15 million tons, worth an estimated $4.6 billion. Some 62 percent of that exported material went to...

A plastics reclaimer and exporter plans to close its doors, citing impacts from China’s import restrictions as a major factor in the company’s downfall. Parc, which buys recovered plastics and ships the material from its U.S. locations to its Chinese processing sites, filed papers for voluntary dissolution on Dec. 26, 2017, according to Illinois Secretary of State records. The company...

The recycling industry has not escaped the fallout from a tight trucking market. Recent regulatory movement and a growing driver shortage have contributed to rising freight costs, just months after extreme weather impacted the shipping sector. “We’re already in a pro-carrier environment, and we think this will continue for quite a while,” said Avery Vise, president of trucking research at...