Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
QRS facilities had trouble in recent years as falling resin prices challenged the financial viability of models built around deeper sorts of the plastics recycling stream. | Photo from Ravinia Capital.
This story has been updated.
A well-known St. Louis plastics recycling operation has been auctioned off, and the processing company is now called Granite Peak Plastics.
Lawmakers in Oregon have joined those in eight other states for a coordinated effort around the country to advocate for EPR policies. | Nadia Yong/Shutterstock
Legislators in nine states spanning the U.S. will collaborate to push extended producer responsibility policies for plastic packaging. They said their joint actions will carry more weight than a single legislative effort.
The Canada Plastics Pact launched with more than 40 partner organizations. | Ulrich Mueller/Shutterstock
Reclaimers joined brand owners, industry groups and other stakeholders to launch the Canada Plastics Pact, which will work to incorporate Ellen MacArthur Foundation-led recycling targets into Canada’s plastics sector.
With fewer available drivers comes less available trucking supply, leading to higher prices and potential disruptions in trucking availability for those in the recycling industry. | Vitpho/Shutterstock
A driver shortage that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to create challenges for moving recyclables this year, analysts say.
New rules took effect Jan. 1, 2021, and scrap plastic traders are already describing a chaotic situation for shipments around the world. | al clark/Shutterstock
U.K. regulators will relax restrictions on scrap plastic storage, in response to what they’re calling “disruption” caused by changes to the Basel Convention.
The new 200,000-square-foot manufacturing and support facility is sited adjacent to Trex’s existing Virginia campus. | Vojatz/Shutterstock
A major end user of recovered PE film has completed a multi-year $200 million investment by opening a new facility in Virginia. The expansion is part of a strategy to increase production capacity by 70%.
Scrap plastic traders are facing challenges from increased freight rates and cancellations of bookings by shipping lines as Basel regulations are implemented. | Mariusz Bugno/Shutterstock
Industry experts say overseas buyers are struggling to source scrap plastic after new restrictions on the global trade of recovered plastic began taking effect.
A leader with AMP Robotics says artificial intelligence has changed how robotics can be incorporated into recycling facilities. | Courtesy of AMP Robotics.
A recycling facility operator and a robotics company say artificial intelligence is providing materials recovery firms with much-needed data to analyze changes in the recycling stream. That’s in addition to sortation improvements.
Once PreZero’s California plant hits full scale, the facility will be producing 24 million pounds per year of film pellets.
A company planning multiple U.S. processing plants taking in hard-to-recycle plastics has begun operating its first location in Southern California.
COVID-19 and pricing pressure led companies to seek other supply lines for PET feedstock. | Pixel B/Shutterstock
A confluence of RPET market disruptions in 2020 included low prime plastic pricing and supply challenges that led end users to seek feedstock from other sources. Still, experts maintain a surge of RPET demand is fast approaching.