Colin Staub was a reporter and associate editor at Resource Recycling until August 2025.
KW’s recycled PP paint can manufacturing operation, KW Container, has experienced increased sales during the pandemic. | Photo courtesy of KW
Supply and demand realities for key curbside plastics are evolving fast during the coronavirus pandemic, and they’ve led one major plastics recycling company to adjust operationally. Continue Reading
Chinese officials are working to update standards for recycled plastic pellets, laying out new quality requirements. | Afanasiev Andrii/Shutterstock
Recycled plastic pellets are facing greater scrutiny upon import into China, international recycling stakeholders recently reported.
Major global food and beverage company Nestlé announced a $30 million investment in the Closed Loop Leadership Fund. | JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock
After announcing a plan early this year to buy a massive volume of recycled resin in the coming years, Nestlé has begun investing in the U.S. to support that goal.
The U.S. last year objected to stricter regulations on the global scrap plastics trade, kicking off a series of meetings that did not reach consensus. | Travel mania/Shutterstock
A coalition that includes the U.S. and European Union failed to agree on how new global plastic waste shipping regulations should affect the coalition’s member countries.
Quincy Recycle plans to start up the 64,000-square-foot facility early next year.
Quincy Recycle has opened its eighth recycling facility to handle material from back-of-house commercial and industrial settings, underscoring opportunity in these areas despite a pandemic-driven decline in commercial material generation.
Waste Management issued its September 2020 “Report on Recycling” to identify gaps in U.S. plastics recycling infrastructure, among other goals. | Natallia Boroda/Shutterstock
A recent report from the nation’s largest waste and recycling hauler reviews the current state of reclamation capacity for PET, HDPE and PP in the U.S.
Coca-Cola European Partners announced that all bottles produced in Norway, which are made from about 25% recycled plastic currently, will hit 100% during the first half of next year. | Jevanto Productions/Shutterstock
The primary Coca-Cola bottler in Europe will use 100% recycled PET containers in the Netherlands and Norway, committing to consume millions of pounds of additional recycled resin per year.
Interpol found that plastic waste fires, both accidental and deliberate, have increased since Chinese import restrictions took hold. | MOHAMED ABDULRAHEEM/Shutterstock
Improper management of scrap plastics in Southeast Asia and elsewhere has increased sharply in the wake of China’s National Sword policy, according to international law enforcement body Interpol.
Senate Bill 54 would have tasked state regulators with developing and adopting rules requiring all single-use packaging and “priority single-use products” sold in California to be recyclable or compostable by 2032. | SerPhoto/Shutterstock
For the second straight year, a California proposal that had broad recyclability goals did not make it through the legislature.
Despite the upcoming ban, the Chinese government continues to approve permits for more recovered paper to enter the country. | hxdbzxy/Shutterstock
Another major container ship operator says it’s ending scrap shipments to China as that country prepares to widen its prohibition on imports of recovered material. Meanwhile, insurance providers recently analyzed the Chinese policy and its ramifications for shipping lines.