Colin Staub has been a reporter at Resource Recycling since January 2017. Before that he worked as a reporter at the weekly newspaper in Newberg, Oregon, and has been a freelance writer at other publications in Portland. He can be contacted at [email protected]
A group of 100 U.S. brand owners and other stakeholders have laid out a roadmap for achieving various plastics sustainability objectives. | AngieYeoh / Shutterstock
The U.S. Plastics Pact this week laid out its five-year plan for increasing recycled plastic use and boosting recycling rates, among other objectives.
A substantial EPR bill is moving forward in the Oregon legislature. | Grindstone Media Group / Shutterstock
Bills establishing extended producer responsibility for packaging materials were introduced in a handful of states this year. Several have failed to gain traction, but at least two key proposals remain active.
More than 100 employees will be hired to work at Brightmark’s upcoming $680 million Georgia plant. | Frank Fiedler / Shutterstock
Brightmark this week announced it will build a second facility bringing in mixed plastics for chemical recycling. To be located in Georgia, the plant will have a processing capacity of 800 million pounds per year.
The Biden-Harris EPA budget proposal allocates $10 million for a pilot grant program to advance innovation in the recycling industry. | DanielJohn / Shutterstock
The Biden-Harris administration requested $11.2 billion for the U.S. EPA for 2022, and the agency proposes to slightly increase funding to the EPA’s Waste Minimization and Recycling Program.
Borealis PCR resins span interior, exterior and under-the-bonnet applications. | SHYMR / Shutterstock
Borealis recently began offering several grades of resin made from virgin and post-consumer recycled materials for sale into the North American automotive market.
CG Roxane’s San Bernardino, Calif. facility is capable of processing 35 million pounds of RPET annually. The new plant in Tennessee will have the same capacity. | Courtesy of CG Roxane
CG Roxane has broken ground on a recycled PET facility in Tennessee that’s slated to open within a year. The company says the new site will help it hit 50% RPET in its products nationally.
Equipment in CarbonLite’s Dallas PET recycling facility. Indorama Ventures submitted the high bid to acquire the plant during an auction this week.
As part of a bankruptcy case, DAK Americas, Indorama Ventures and The Sterling Group have submitted the high bids to acquire CarbonLite’s PET recycling facilities.
U.S. exports of scrap plastics increased in the first quarter of 2021, with Malaysia as the largest overseas destination. | WWK Photography / Shutterstock
Recovered plastic exports from the U.S. were up in the first three months of 2021 compared with the prior year. Canada brought in nearly a third of all exported material.
ISRI’s adopted position comes as environmental justice is a growing topic of discussion within the recycling sector. | thirawatana phaisalratana / Shutterstock
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries recently affirmed its support for the “broad objectives” of the environmental justice movement, including equitable treatment for all people, positive contribution to surrounding communities, and more.
U.S. exporters shipped 2.9 million pounds of scrap PE to Turkey in the first quarter of 2021. | Kachor Valentyna / Shutterstock
The Turkish government this month announced it will end imports of recovered PE. The country is currently the 10th largest importer of the material from the U.S.