Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Legislation to be reintroduced will include provisions for a national bottle bill and a ban on certain single-use plastic items. | S-F/Shutterstock
Two members of Congress will revive the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which includes a national container deposit system and other sweeping changes. Representatives from the plastics industry have countered the push.
California Assembly Bill 842 requires that by 2035, all single-use plastic packaging and products distributed in California include 75% post-consumer recycled content. | Kanittha Boon/Shutterstock
California legislators introduced a bill that creates a packaging stewardship organization and adds packaging fees paid by producers. The bill is the latest in a flurry of plastics-related legislative activity in the state.
A recently introduced joint resolution in California calls on the Biden administration to ratify the Basel Convention. | cmshepard/Shutterstock
A California legislator says U.S. ratification of the Basel Convention would build up domestic processing infrastructure, reduce negative impacts from exports, and create jobs in this country. At least one large reclaimer supports the move.
A number of chemical recycling firms have made announcements recently. | cwales/Shutterstock
Chemical recycling companies have recently announced certifications, development and marketing agreements, investments and more.
U.S. exports of recovered plastic were up slightly in January 2021 compared to the previous year. | anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock
Exports of U.S. scrap plastic increased in January 2021 compared with 2020, despite new Basel Convention regulations on plastic shipments.
Owl Electronic Recycling operates a wash line handling e-plastics at its Pennsylvania facility. | Courtesy of Owl Electronic Recycling
Pennsylvania company Owl Electronic Recycling installed e-plastics sortation equipment in response to China’s scrap plastic import ban. That’s proved beneficial for the latest market disruption restricting the scrap plastic trade.
CarbonLite operates recycling facilities that bring in PET bales from deposit and curbside sources.
PET recycling firm CarbonLite and a subsidiary this week filed for bankruptcy, indicating the company plans to reorganize and continue operating. A company leader said market strife and COVID-19 impacts led to the decision.
The REMADE Institute issued funding to projects exploring a variety of plastics recycling technologies. | Olivier Le Queinec/Shutterstock
A federal initiative focused on energy efficiency in U.S. manufacturing recently selected more than a dozen plastics recycling projects to support. They include efforts advancing PET recovery, mixed-plastics processing, chemical recycling and more.
Indorama noted it has recycling expansion projects in the works that will grow the company’s PET recycling capacity by roughly 600,000 metric tons per year. | Pavel Kapysh/Shutterstock
Global resin producer Indorama Ventures plans to continue its expansion in the PET recycling sector this year, the company recently announced in financial filings.
PreZero framed the acquisition as a way to guarantee a viable end market for the post-consumer resin it produces. | REDPIXEL.PL/Shutterstock
PreZero US, a growing mixed-plastics recycling company, has entered the end use sector with its acquisition of Roplast Industries, a longtime processor and bag manufacturer.