KW Plastics plans to bring an additional 100 million pounds per year of olefin recycling capacity online in the next few months. | Courtesy of KW Plastics
There are plenty of reasons to be gloomy about recycled resin markets these days. But one of the largest plastics reclaimers in the U.S. is staying focused on a course of expansion, and it’s getting ready to start up an additional 100 million pounds per year of olefin recycling capacity. Continue Reading
A panel at last week’s Plastics Recycling Conference dug into the question: “The Switch to Paper Packaging: Fad or New Norm?” | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling Inc.
Paper is on the march against plastic, taking its place in several forms of protective packaging, food wrappers, beverage containers and bread bag clips as manufacturers pivot to a more commonly recycled, and seemingly more sustainable, material. Continue Reading
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A project that tracked plastic packaging dropped off in retail collection sites was our top-read story last month, joined by coverage of a chemical recycling supply agreement, bale markets, the Plastics Recycling Conference and more.
More than 2,500 plastics recycling leaders convened in Grapevine, Texas, last week for the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference, featuring three days of networking and dialogue about the state of the industry. Our photographer captured scenes from the event.
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A drop in overall plastics collection contributed to a decline in the annual bottle recycling rate, which decreased to 27.8% in 2022. | Mohamed Abdulraheem/Shutterstock
Just over 5 billion pounds of post-consumer plastic was recovered for recycling in 2022, an annual industry report found, marking a decrease from the prior year. One trade association pointed to macroeconomic factors like inflation as driving the lower recovery. Continue Reading
The new facility will have the capacity to recycle approximately 110,000 metric tons annually. | Mr_Mrs_Marcha/Shutterstock
Eastman is planning to build its second chemical recycling facility in Longview, Texas, and the U.S. Department of Energy will grant the project up to $375 million, the company recently announced. Continue Reading
The first day of the annual Plastics Recycling Conference covered the state of the industry and the ways that recycling can improve with better packaging design and stakeholder collaboration. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
Plastic packaging could be designed for recycling from the start, rather than squeezed haphazardly into recycling systems after the fact, with greater collaboration and stakeholder involvement along the entire value chain, several speakers said Monday at the Plastics Recycling Conference in Grapevine, Texas. Continue Reading
In January 2024, the U.S. imported 52.5 million pounds of scrap PET, over double the amount imported into the country in January 2023. | MarieKaz/Shutterstock
Scrap PET imports reached an all-time single-month record high in January, coming on the heels of a year that brought record-high imports of the post-consumer resin. Continue Reading