The creation of a major glass-processing program in the nation's heartland started with a frank conversation at a beer tasting. Now it's arguably the most successful venture of its kind. Owens Corning staff members were tasting beers at Kansas City's Boulevard Brewing and started talking with management about the dearth of glass recycling in the area. Boulevard Brewing was concerned...

Researchers have developed fluorescent coating that could allow for fast, automated sorting of food-contact PET from non-food-contact PET in mixed recycling streams. The Polymark project released preliminary results in the effort to create beverage container identifiers that are safe for food packaging and are removable after sortation. Bottle-to-bottle recycling is allowed in the European Union, but legislation prohibits non-food-application plastic...

The federal government provided $96,000 to a New York company to design production-scale equipment to remove integrated circuits and components from printed circuit boards.The U.S. EPA's Small Business Innovation Research program awarded the grant to Advanced Recovery and Recycling LLC (ARR). The Baldwinsville, N.Y. engineering company already has a prototype circuit board de-populator, and the EPA funding will help it design a...

The third-annual Recycling Innovators Forum has awarded $20,000 to AMP Robotics, a Colorado-based startup that aims to provide low-cost robotic sortation options to the recycling industry. The award, announced as part of Resource Recycling Conference 2015 in Indianapolis, will provide funding to help get the idea off the ground. "This award is really validating for us," Matanya Horowitz, the founder...

Canada's retailer trade group says New Brunswick's proposed e-scrap takeback and recycling program would hide fees from consumers and increase red tape for businesses. A provincial regulator defended the proposed program, however, saying it follows the approach of its provincial neighbor, Quebec, and is consistent with the direction other jurisdictions in Canada are moving.New Brunswick is the last of Canada's...

California lawmakers have approved a bill allowing MRF operators and recycling companies to receive tax exemptions for equipment purchases. Assembly Bill 199 would allow state government to exempt projects and equipment purchases from the state and local portions of the sales and use tax. The bill, supported by advocacy group Californians Against Waste, has the potential to result in millions...

Wood-alternative lumber manufacturer Trex has announced its entry into the business of producing and selling linear low-density polyethylene pellets made from recycled material. The Winchester, Va.-based company says it's actively looking for markets for the LLDPE pellets, which primarily come from stretch films used in commercial shipping. "We envision numerous applications for our recycled pellets," Dave Heglas, senior director of...

Dynamic Recycling has purchased some of the assets of the defunct e-scrap company Materials Processing Corp. Onalaska, Wis.-based Dynamic purchased Materials Processing Corp.'s (MPC) intangible assets, including customer lists, its enterprise system and salesforce contacts, Dynamic Recycling CEO Miles Harter told E-Scrap News. It also bought a baler and is looking to purchase forklifts, he said.MPC recently shut down in...

Zzyzx Polymers has developed a method for blending post-consumer laminated films into an injection-grade polymer. The Allentown, Pa. company's work is featured in the latest newsletter from PAC NEXT, which is part of the industry-funded PAC Packaging Consortium. One of PAC NEXT's projects is to develop recycling strategies for multi-layer laminated films and bags. Phil Brunner, chief technology officer at...

Equipment manufacturers Bulk Handling Systems and AMUT will provide key front-line equipment for an expansion of a Repreve recycled fiber facility, the companies announced. The $25 million project will help Unifi move upstream to control more of the PET used in its Repreve brand of recycled fiber, which is incorporated in clothing, vehicle upholstery and other applications. The project is...