A highly publicized study on the presence of flame retardants in black plastic household products contained a calculator error, the authors announced. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling
Last year, a study suggested that household products containing plastic possibly recovered from electronics had high levels of flame retardants – but the authors issued a correction to the work after finding a miscalculation. Continue Reading
Having left South Korea without a treaty, delegates from around the world will reconvene in Switzerland in August to keep working to address global plastic pollution. | Nexus 7/Shutterstock
Several months after wrapping what was intended to be the final negotiations on a global plastic pollution management treaty, the United Nations Environment Programme has announced the dates for extended talks. Continue Reading
The EPA administrator pointed to staffing, office space and grants as areas to cut agency spending. | John Hanson Pye/Shutterstock
Details are scarce on U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s plans to cut his agency’s spending by 65% or more, but some of its 15,000 full-time-equivalent positions and grants to recycling programs across the country could be on the chopping block. Continue Reading
The company’s flagship plant in Ironton, Ohio, is experiencing fewer and less serious issues, amid rapidly growing interest in the chemically recycled resin. | XXL Photo/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Learn more about food-grade recycled PP and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Editor’s note: Women in Circularity is a long-running series in Resource Recycling News, sister publication to Plastics Recycling Update. Series author MaryEllen Etienne will host a Women in Circularity session during the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference next month, and in the run-up to the conference, we’re introducing the series to Plastics Recycling Update readers as well. Katie Drews, featured in this month’s installment, will join MaryEllen during the conference session.
A warm welcome back to “Women in Circularity,” where we shine a light on women moving us toward a circular economy. This month, I was pleased to connect with an expert in the delivery of community based recycling services: Katie Drews. Katie is the co-president and CEO of Eureka Recycling, a nonprofit zero-waste organization and social enterprise recycler based in Minneapolis. Katie has nearly two decades of experience in marketing and business strategy and has a track record of driving change and innovation in corporate, higher education and nonprofit sectors.
Mardi Gras in New Orleans is one of the world’s largest parties, drawing 1 million visitors each year. | f11photo/shutterstock
Public events always bring their own challenges to recycling – large numbers of people on the move, visitors from out of town, a constant flow of adult beverages and other distractions, the list goes on. And Mardi Gras in New Orleans, with its 12-day, 24-7 marathon of parades and parties drawing roughly 1 million people every year, may well be king. Continue Reading
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced it approved a program plan on Feb. 21. | Yanqiang Dai/Shutterstock
After several years of work, Oregon has approved an extended producer responsibility plan, laying out how packaging producers are expected to fulfill the requirements of the law. Continue Reading
Three companies announced funding and other progress toward building chemical recycling capacity. | Menzl Guenter/Shutterstock
Several companies recently announced progress toward chemical recycling capacity, including a developing method to recycle PET that could require much less energy. Continue Reading
The price spread between the two grades of HDPE bales stood at 85.07 cents per pound for February, according to RecyclingMarkets.net data, the highest level the index has tracked in seven years. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling
The price spread between natural and color HDPE reached a record high in February, as natural bales pricing increased while mixed-color bales remained near historic lows. Continue Reading