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Category: News

Sort project will target plastics missed by MRFs in Northeast

Published: November 11, 2020
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Baled plastics for soration.

Bales of plastic material for sortation at the Pacific Northwest demonstration facility. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling, Inc.

Following a similar demonstration in the Pacific Northwest last year, industry stakeholders are launching an initiative to recover additional material from the municipal stream in New York and four other states.

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Loop Industries challenged by setbacks and legal strife

Published: November 11, 2020
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A law office scene with gavel and scales.

Last month, Loop Industries disclosed it was being sued by investors and that federal regulators had issued it a subpoena for documents. | Zolnierek/Shutterstock

Troubles are mounting for PET depolymerization startup Loop Industries. It has lost a key supply contract and also faces lawsuits and an investigation by regulators.

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AmSty aims to increase PCR in food packaging

Published: November 11, 2020
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Polystyrene food containers.

American Styrenics noted that chemical recycling technologies will be key to helping it achieve its goals of boosting recycled-content in foodservice packaging. | Karina Serova/Shutterstock

Polystyrene producer Americas Styrenics announced a goal of having 25% recycled content in foodservice and food packaging products by 2030.

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Major packaging users hit 6.2% average recycled content

Published: November 11, 2020
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Walmart store's dairy shelf.

Walmart grew its recycled plastic use across product packaging lines from less than 0.5% in 2018 to 9% in 2019. | Chekyravaa/Shutterstock

Some of the largest packaged goods and retail firms increased their use of recycled plastic in 2019, but they have work to do to hit 2025 targets, according to an Ellen MacArthur Foundation update.

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PET industry group updates resin life cycle analysis

Published: November 11, 2020
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A large pile of PET bottles for recycling.

A life-cycle analysis found that using recycled PET resin in place of virgin resin can lead to a 40% reduction in process and transportation energy. | GenViewFinder/Shutterstock

The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) says using recycled PET offers a 60% greenhouse gas reduction over virgin material, one of several recent findings the group added to its PET environmental impact resources.

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Big drop in California redemption rate? State and group don’t agree

Published: November 4, 2020
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Squashed PET bottle on a white background.

CalRecycle plans to release final redemption data for the first six months of 2020 in the coming weeks. | photobeps/Shutterstock

This story has been updated with new redemption figures from California’s recycling agency.

Advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog recently noted the COVID-19 pandemic has slashed California’s beverage container recycling rate. But the state’s recycling agency called that analysis “inaccurate.”

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Plastics Pact looks to bring ‘new force’ to policy talks

Published: November 4, 2020
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A business meeting with a person pointing to a computer screen.

The pact members are aiming to launch a roadmap document publicly in April 2021. | chainarong06/Shutterstock

The director of the U.S. Plastics Pact says the effort is marked by two key components: focusing on a target-based national strategy to tackle plastic waste and employing rigorous accountability through reporting to the public.

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Study: US a major generator of plastics pollution

Published: November 4, 2020
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Santa Monica, Calif. beach with plastic waste.

Using data from 2016, researchers found the U.S. could be the third largest generator of mismanaged plastic waste.| Rafeed Hussain/Ocean Conservancy

Despite having a robust plastics collection infrastructure, the U.S. is one of the largest contributors to ocean plastics worldwide, according to new findings from well-known plastic waste researchers.

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Our top stories from October 2020

Published: November 4, 2020
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Sabic logo on website, seen through magnifying glass.

News about Sabic’s pyrolysis advancements drew attention last month. | Casimiro PT/Shutterstock

Export regulation changes, chemical recycling advances, brand owner action and packaging recyclability nods all drew the clicks last month.

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