Brook + Whittle’s GreenLabel BlockOut product is a crystallizable shrink sleeve, which is used with de-inkable inks and a functional barrier coating. | Courtesy of Brook + Whittle
A Connecticut-based manufacturer of shrink sleeves and flexible packaging has secured a U.S. patent for a coating that both blocks light and works in the existing recycling system. Continue Reading
Colgate-Palmolive said several challenges may require work beyond 2025, the target date for many of its sustainability goals. | Ungvar/Shutterstock
As the 2025 sustainability deadlines set by many brands get closer, another global heavyweight has announced that it will likely miss some of its target goals. Continue Reading
Heartland developed hemp-based materials that can be used as additives in plastic compounds. | StanislauV/Shutterstock
A Detroit-based startup that uses natural fiber as plastic additives has secured an investment from a German business incubator. Continue Reading
Coming from inside the ranks of the state agency, Zoe Heller was appointed director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery. | Rarrarorro/Shutterstock
California’s sizable waste reduction and recycling agency has a new leader in Zoe Heller, who was recently appointed director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery. Industry leaders praised her integrity, thoughtfulness and collaboration skills. Continue Reading
Natural and color HDPE prices rose higher this month, continuing an upward trend that began last fall. Continue Reading
By mid-2023, the Myplas facility had drawn a total investment of $24 million, but it shut down shortly after it opened. | Photo via MBOLD on YouTube
Minnesota-based film recycling company Myplas USA closed its doors just weeks after opening, and was quickly served with an eviction lawsuit. The legal action has been settled out of court, but the facility’s future remains uncertain.
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Emily Friedman of ICIS described several trends driving recycled resin markets in the U.S., during the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference in Grapevine, Texas. | Big Wave Productions/Plastics Recycling Update
A long runup in recycled natural HDPE prices came to an end last summer, when prices plummeted to levels not seen since 2019. A market analyst with ICIS recently explained how this has become a trend in the plastics recycling market – and how the cycle is beginning again. Continue Reading
U.S. exporters shipped 234.6 million pounds of scrap plastic to other countries during the first three months of the year, on par with what was exported during the same period in 2023. | Aaron Jacobs/Shutterstock
More than half of the scrap plastic that left the U.S. in the first quarter of the year stayed in North America, recent export figures indicate. Continue Reading
Mohamed Abdulraheem/Shutterstock
Coverage of the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference, the latest U.S. plastics recovery data, a major reclaimer’s expansion and food-contact packaging movement drew readers’ attention in April. Continue Reading