Associate Editor Jared Paben has worked for Resource Recycling since December 2014. Most of his earlier career was spent as a reporter for the daily newspaper in Bellingham, Wash., but he also has experience working for the Oregon volunteerism commission and for Oregon nonprofits serving low-income populations. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Overall, worldwide recycling rates for both single-polymer and multi-material plastic flexible packaging is negligible. | pedphoto36p/Shutterstock
Single-use flexible plastic packaging has been the fastest-growing packaging type. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation says the opposite should be happening.
In a session moderated by Roxanne Spiekerman (left), resin markets experts Marcelo Wasem (center) and Joel Morales (right) presented their analysis to attendees at the 2022 Plastics Recycling Conference. | Brian Adams Photo/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Post-consumer HDPE and PP prices have been hot lately, and they’re likely to stay that way given consistently strong demand and relatively slow supply increases, according to one market expert.
Wearwell has released an industrial platform with 100% post-consumer PP tiles that workers walk and stand on. | Courtesy of Wearwell
Industrial products maker Wearwell has developed a foundation for its recycled PP usage – both figuratively and literally.
Cyclyx International’s 10 to 90 effort will include takeback programs, education, rewards and engagement tools to boost local plastics recycling rates. | Roman Zaiets/Shutterstock
A consortium that aims to source and prepare low-value scrap plastics for chemical recycling has launched a public outreach and incentive campaign.
Eureka Recycling, which operates a materials recovery facility (MRF) in Minneapolis, is a member of the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers, which criticized plastics-to-fuel processes. | Courtesy of Eureka Recycling
The Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers called plastics-to-fuel processes “false solutions,” though the group of nonprofit recyclers says it is more open to technologies that are geared toward production of recycled resin.
Bill Robberson, president and chief technology officer for Kamilo, Inc., presented during a plenary session focused on greenhouse gas emissions at the 2022 Plastics Recycling Conference. | Brian Adams Photo
The U.S. EPA has provided funding to Kamilo, Inc., which uses technology to monitor material moving through the recycling chain, with a goal of increasing the value of recycled resins.
Greg Johnson, Evergreen’s general manager of resin and recycling, presents at the Plastics Recycling Conference last week. | Brian Adams Photography
When private equity fund The Sterling Group acquired Evergreen, staff at the PET reclaimer were nervous, Greg Johnson included.
Starlinger and Co. received letters of no-objection for the company’s technologies for recycling HDPE scrap into food-grade post-consumer resin. | Starlinger and Co.
The U.S. FDA green-lighted a process to recycle LLDPE scrap into food packaging, one of several letters the agency issued over the past seven months.
Trex reported total sales revenues of $1.2 billion last year, up 36% from the year before. | Vojtaz/Shutterstock
Trex, which recycles over 350 million pounds of PE film scrap a year, dramatically boosted its sales and profits in 2021.
Fewer scrap plastics were exported last year compared to 2020, continuing a downward trend. | Vacancylizm/Shutterstock
U.S. scrap plastic exports fell by 12% in 2021, even though some countries, such as India and Mexico, brought in a whole lot more material.