Winners are announced in a $1 million contest focused on addressing non-recyclable plastics, and two major cities add additional plastic items to their curbside programs.
Winners are announced in a $1 million contest focused on addressing non-recyclable plastics, and two major cities add additional plastic items to their curbside programs.
When it made landfall on Aug. 25, Hurricane Harvey became the wettest tropical cyclone to ever hit the U.S., dumping more than five feet of water on Houston. The resulting floods have impacted the recycling industry in multiple ways, driving up prices for virgin plastics, hampering freight systems and halting curbside collections.
In September, Plastics Recycling Update readers were drawn to a wide variety of topics, including a packaging innovation, China’s imports ban, and food- and beverage-contact plastics decisions.
A massive virgin PET production facility could shutter before it opens, and a New York county rolls out full-scale foam food-service packaging collection.
A California company will process carpets underwater to generate better-quality nylon and PP pellets, and a French company says a recently acquired plastics reclaimer is compatible with its polymer compatibilization business.
Plastic marine debris makes its way into the Arctic, and analysts predict how China’s proposed import ban could lead to a greater reliance on virgin plastics in Chinese manufacturing.
A type of caterpillar eats and breaks down polyethylene, and Tanzania asks new plastic product manufacturers to build recycling facilities.
Ontario has passed legislation ushering in full producer-paid recycling of packaging materials throughout the province of more than 13 million people.
Terrorist attacks in Brussels have prompted the cancellation of the Plastics Recycling Show Europe, and a report estimates a 25 percent jump in the number of plastics recycling facilities in Europe in the immediate future.
Indonesia considers following its fee on plastic bags with one on plastic beverage containers, and South African pickers could be hurt by a transition to extended producer responsibility for packaging.