How can recycling programs across the country efficiently recover glass and overcome challenges in the value chain? Several stakeholders delved into the issue at the Resource Recycling Conference. In a session called "Picking Up the Pieces of Glass Recycling," processors and end users of recycled glass discussed what is being done to improve the system – and what continues to...

The State of Colorado is now offering tax breaks on machinery purchases made by recycling companies and remanufacturers. State Bill 16-124 says all machinery and equipment purchased for the use of processing recovered materials is exempt from sales and use tax. This type of tax exemption is already in place for manufacturing equipment. The legislation was signed into law on...

Seattle-based Total Reclaim says it will appeal a penalty imposed by the Washington Department of Ecology for improper shipments of material. Total Reclaim last week was fined $444,000 for sending mercury-containing flat-screen TVs and monitors to Hong Kong, where they allegedly weren't disposed of safely, potentially harming workers and the environment. According to the Washington Department of Ecology, Total Reclaim admitted...

Southern California-based PTM Images has built an operation in Mexico to more efficiently bring recovered polystyrene into items such as picture frames, mirrors and other wall hangings. PTM Images this summer opened the 80,000-square-foot facility in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. CEO Jonathan Bass told Plastics Recycling Update the company is taking in both post-consumer and post-industrial material. Some of...

Starting in 2018, plastic bags will no longer be allowed to be handed out by retailers in Montreal. The City Council recently passed a bylaw banning distribution of bags that are less than 50 micrometers thick, unless they are used to store meat, vegetables, fruits or other food, reports the Montreal Gazette. The ban also includes bags that are biodegradable and...

Republic Services, the second-largest waste hauler in North America, has released its 2015 sustainability report, and the assessment offers insights into how the company is managing its recycling program. The document indicates Republic collects 100 million tons of waste per year, with more than 5 million of that being collected and processed for recycling. The majority of the recycling total,...

California's recycling and organics processing infrastructure is getting an upgrade thanks to a recent budget agreement awaiting the governor's signature. AB 1613 calls for a portion of the money earned from cap-and-trade allowances to be spent on initiatives that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation earmarks $40 million for CalRecycle to improve organics processing infrastructure and recycled content manufacturing....

The amount of recycled content in cardboard boxes hit 48.4 percent in 2015, according to the Corrugated Packaging Alliance. That rate has been fairly steady since 2000, but is an increase from 27 percent in 1990. Recycled content is calculated by dividing the amount of old corrugated containers (OCC) consumed at mills by containerboard production, and it has been calculated...

A recycling company in upstate New York has been targeted by state officials over allegations of mishandling materials. New York Department of Conservation (DEC) officers executed a search warrant at Alpco Recycling last week and took soil samples and customer records.Officers told the Times of Wayne County they received tips that electronic materials weren't being handled according to regulations, specifically...

In one section of Georgia, it's getting easier to recycle a variety of polystyrene products. The Center for Hard to Recycle Materials in Athens-Clarke County received a $29,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition to improve its expanded polystyrene collection service. The money will be used to buy densifiers that will compact the polystyrene into condensed bricks, which make it...