Monthly Archives: May 2021

EPA leader connects recycling and environmental justice

Published: May 5, 2021
Updated: May 5, 2021
by Dan Leif

Aerial view of a community solid waste landfill.

At the recent ISRI2021 online conference, an EPA official touched on environmental justice issues that affect waste and recycling facilities. | Surapol USanakul / Shutterstock

The U.S. EPA’s top environmental justice official has a message for recycling operators: Don’t wait for a conflict to arise to start engaging with the community that surrounds you.

The latest plastics recycling news

Proposed Canadian EPR changes could inform US plans
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is looking to make adjustments to its signature law for extended producer responsibility in packaging, in response to producer feedback about costs and other program concerns.
Researchers: Effective plastic treaty requires production cuts
Scientists from universities in several countries released a paper that concluded production cuts must be part of the legally binding treaty to manage global plastic pollution if it’s to achieve its goals.
Q&A: With EPR incoming, end markets are crucial
In a wide-ranging interview, Keefe Harrison of The Recycling Partnership expressed concern over the state of recycled material end markets, brand owners rolling back recycled content targets, and the detrimental effects of “silver bullet” thinking when trying to improve the U.S. recycling system.
Bottle cap design: No need to ‘reinvent the wheel’
Mono-material design often is the goal for packaging, but due to color and sortation nuances it may not be the best approach for beverage containers, according to a packaging design expert during a recent webinar.
NY legislative session ends, again without EPR
The 2025 legislative session in New York ended, and legislators’ hopes to pass extended producer responsibility for packaging this year did as well.
Colorado Summit covers chemical recycling, EPR trends
Extended producer responsibility, community engagement and chemical recycling were all hot topics for Colorado service providers, business owners and municipal representatives at a recent conference.
Major plastic initiative sets sights on system change
Five years after its billion-dollar founding, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste is taking what it learned from one-off projects and shifting its attention to country-scale change.