Bottle-grade prime PET prices fell 1.25 cents per pound last week to 56.25 cents per pound, delivered Chicago. Imported PET with an intrinsic viscosity (IV) of 78 milliliters per gram or higher commanded 56 cents per pound delivered duty-paid, down 1 to 2 cents per pound from the previous week.
Construction progress on Waste Management’s Alameda County facility as of February 2017. Photo credit: CalRecycle
An operation in California estimated to cost more than $120 million will extract plastics and other recoverable material from municipal solid waste. But it’s not aimed at replacing curbside recycling collection.
During a series of tests aimed at optimizing PET thermoform recycling, researchers made a key discovery: the mechanical dryer they used wasn’t just drying out flakes. It was also beating them up, generating a huge amount of fines. Continue Reading
Vermont capitol building
Plastic bags continue to be a focus for state legislatures this year, but actions taken diverge dramatically. Recent movement includes one state aiming to ban plastic bag use, as another prohibits that possibility altogether.
Markets were on the minds of readers last month, with a number of our most popular stories offering analysis on demand for recovered plastic material.
Research in the U.K. shows that uncertainty over recyclability of plastic products continues to prevent higher recovery rates among the general public. Continue Reading
A study has backed up a frequent message among plastics recycling companies: Successful recyclability starts in the product design phase.
Demand for HDPE scrap bales retreated a bit in early April following a mid-March surge. This lackluster demand, coupled with rising bale supply from major population centers, drove scrap prices lower.
Trina Matta, Sustainable Packaging Coalition
How can recycling players be sure their material choices aren’t damaging other links in the recovery chain? One industry collaboration has developed a resource to help.
Drones patrol Britain’s beaches in search of shoreline plastics, and prices rise in the U.S. for recovered HDPE and PET.