The Solid Waste Association of North America and the Product Stewardship Institute are formalizing their collaboration to address materials management challenges including lithium-ion battery safety, vape disposal and compressed gas cylinder management.

New Jersey just passed a bill restricting single-use plastic items, California has opened another round of public comment on SB 54, and other states are debating the right to repair, deposit systems and EPR legislation. Stay tuned to Policy Now for monthly updates on what's happening across the country.

As batteries appear in everything from light-up shoes to electric vehicles, new EPR laws are reshaping recycling requirements.

Editor’s Note: California EPR will be featured in sessions at the co-located 2026 Resource Recycling Conference and Plastics Recycling Conference, Feb. 23-25 in San Diego, California. Register now! CalRecycle has released an updated draft of SB 54 regulations, with a comment period to last through Feb. 13. At the beginning of January, the agency pulled its draft of California’s Plastic...

WM has battled headwinds from low recycling commodity prices with strategic automation and facility upgrades, the company told investors in its Q4/full-year 2025 earnings call.

International Paper is splitting its DS Smith and EMEA portfolio between two separate entities following multiple mill closures and strategic moves in 2025.

Cyclic Materials’ Mesa, Arizona site, the very first scale-up of a commercial plant for recycling and local production of rare earths in the US, with a focus on heavy and light rare earth magnets. | Courtesy of Cyclic Materials

Wisconsin's nearly 6 million residents discard 1,033 pounds of food per person annually, creating the state's largest waste stream and prompting officials to develop new strategies to rescue edible food before it reaches landfills, according to a new report. The Food Waste Evaluation Report expands on the 2020-2021 Statewide Waste Characterization Study, which found that food residuals accounted for 20%...

Private equity firm Kinderhook has expanded its presence in the Mid-South with the formation of Ecowaste, a waste services provider created through the merger of Live Oak Environmental and CARDS Recycling.

After a decade in Canada, GFL Environmental has announced it is relocating its headquarters to the United States.