Extended producer responsibility programs, labeling requirements and minimum PCR mandates offer both challenges and opportunities, and company leaders at 100% PCR packaging manufacturer PakTech have been steadily working to position the company for the future.

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery released a revised draft of SB 54 regulations, two months after the governor rejected the first version of the extended producer responsibility for paper and packaging rules.

Colorado is adding extended producer responsibility for another material stream to its state laws, this time for batteries. 

Ahead of the start of Oregon's updated e-scrap recycling program in 2026, the state Department of Environmental Quality published a timeline of important dates.

Pressures from tariffs and consumer spending slowdowns have contributed to lower revenues year over year at Trex, Mohawk and Indorama, according to their recent first-quarter reports. 

Greif is ending its coated paperboard production on the West Coast by closing its recycled coated paperboard mill in Los Angeles, effective in June. 

Hawai'i added a host of new electronic devices and peripherals to its existing e-scrap law this year, also giving manufacturers more time to reach a 70% recycling and reuse target. 

Recent earnings reports from Iron Mountain and ITAD company Echo's parent company showed overall growth and pointed to headwinds in data center decommissioning and personal devices. 

Tariffs and bad weather in parts of the country weighed on leading recycling companies' first-quarter earnings, their leaders said, but overall they saw revenue increases.

After five years of work and many interim steps, Maryland became the sixth U.S. state to pass extended producer responsibility legislation for paper and packaging, continuing the policy's evolution in the country.