More than three months after China announced it will restrict recyclables imports, key details on logistics and timing of the new regulations remain unknown. But industry associations are piecing together some more concrete facts about the downstream and upstream ramifications of the actions.
The U.S. PET bottle recycling rate dropped from 30.1 percent to 28.4 percent in 2016, a number that is emblematic of several concerning trends hitting the sector.
Roche Harbor on San Juan Island in Washington.
Municipal programs in the Pacific Northwest continue to feel the impacts of China’s import restrictions, and multiple local programs are halting acceptance of plastics and other materials in response.
Great potential exists for increased film recovery in North America, where the residential film recovery rate sits at about 4 percent. Experts have identified key sectors that would be effective targets for coordinated investment.
P&G, Coca-Cola and a handful of other major companies have committed to using products containing post-consumer resin in a range of storage and shipping applications, as part of a new program from the Association of Plastic Recyclers.
The upstream impacts of China’s import restrictions have been increasingly covered in national and local press, raising the level of public consciousness about where recyclables ultimately end up and how that could all change.
This week’s gathering of the Association of Plastic Recyclers saw strong attendance in Pittsburgh as it linked up with a conference held by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC).
Anti-incineration activists are criticizing an industry program that diverts traditionally non-recycled plastics away from landfill and into energy-recovery facilities. In response, project backer Dow Chemical Co. has defended the program’s utility.
A tech company wants to bring “smart” technology into caps and closures, and a carpet stewardship bill is signed into law in California.
Three groups on two continents will work to create one harmonized process for testing the recyclability of plastic products.