After being founded in 2015, A1 Polymer Recycling began running its processing line full tilt in the second quarter of 2017. That was right around the time China started signaling its plans for an import ban on scrap plastic and shaking the foundations of recycling markets. At A1, those international developments have been framed as an opportunity. "We believe that...

This article originally appeared in the November 2019 issue of Resource Recycling. Subscribe today for access to all print content.   One of the major talking points across the recycling landscape over the past year has been brand owner goals. Some of the largest users and producers of packaging on the planet have responded to waste and pollution concerns by setting targets...

This story originally appeared in the Summer 2019 issue of Plastics Recycling Update. Subscribe today for access to all print content.   With so much uncertainty around export markets for recyclables, it's become clear the industry needs to open more pathways to end users in North America. But how to do that? For starters, strengthening domestic markets will require bolstered relationships between...

In sessions at last week's E-Reuse Conference in Texas, a number of industry veterans detailed concepts that can help e-scrap and ITAD companies run leaner, more profitable plants. The speakers outlined how to minimize employee theft, properly equip a sales team and avoid getting drowned in data points, among other best practices.  Below are some of the top efficiency pointers...

This article originally appeared in the October 2019 issue of Resource Recycling. Subscribe today for access to all print content. Over the last decade, the concept of the evolving ton in recycling has focused on the fact that plastic packaging is now a more dominant part of the recycling stream. But the next evolution could be defined, in part, by a rise...

Public protests act as a call for change. But they also signify the fact that significant societal shifts have already occurred. Take, for example, the global climate strike that took place Sept. 20. Huge numbers took to the streets in the student-led demonstrations - estimates put participation between 4 million and 7.6 million worldwide - in a push for meaningful...

A Mexican company that developed a system to process post-consumer PET thermoforms will open a $7 million plant in the Los Angeles area. It's now on the hunt for thermoform bales. Green Impact Plastics is currently handling recovered PET thermoforms at a site in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, said company owner Octavio Victal. He noted that since March, the operation has...

A Mexican company that developed a system to process post-consumer PET thermoforms will open a $7 million plant in the Los Angeles area. It's now on the hunt for thermoform bales. Green Impact Plastics is currently handling recovered PET thermoforms at a site in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, said company owner Octavio Victal. He noted that since March, the operation has...

A West Coast processor that earlier this year saw its founders sentenced to prison is now being led by Bobby Farris, who has worked for a variety of recycling companies. He says the firm's brand can be rebuilt. In mid-September, Farris was named CEO of Total Reclaim, which is headquartered in the Seattle area and also maintains sites in Portland,...

PET-focused CarbonLite Industries and Verdeco Recycling recently exited the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), saying the group has "not embraced fundamental changes in our industry." The two California-headquartered recycling companies made their decision official in a Sept. 25 letter to APR. The development came shortly before APR's fall members meeting in Arizona and shortly after a recycled-content mandate for plastic bottles...