News that researchers found that plastics can offer lower greenhouse gas emissions than substitutes in a number of use cases was of interest to readers last month. | VanderWolf/Shutterstock
A sharp downturn in bale pricing, a bottled water company’s court victory and other news drew our readers’ clicks last month.
The list below shows our top stories published in August in terms of unique page views.
1 | Prices collapse for post-consumer plastics
August has brought precipitous drops in pricing for PET, color HDPE and polypropylene bales.
2 | Niagara Bottling victorious in PET recycling lawsuit
If a bottled water label and cap are effectively unrecyclable, and if statistics show a majority of PET bottles are ultimately wasted, can the containers still be labeled as “100% recyclable”? A federal judge recently said yes.
3 | McKinsey: By one key measure, plastics beat alternatives
The severe impact of plastic ocean pollution has long been recognized, but research firm McKinsey wants to inject some of plastic’s climate benefits into the collective materials usage discussion.
4 | APR brings new data into wider recycling conversation
The Association of Plastic Recyclers released a report noting 21% of HDPE, PET and PP packaging is recycled in the U.S.
5 | End users react to turbulent recycled plastic prices
Greystone Logistics is installing shredding and pelletizing equipment so it can purchase more lower-cost scrap polyethylene, as opposed to recycled resin. And Unifi is opportunistically buying PET bottle bales while it works to pass feedstock cost increases on to buyers of its recycled polyester.
