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
Scrap PET imports rose faster than overall scrap plastic imports did last year, continuing what has been an emerging challenge for the domestic plastics recycling industry. | S Oleg/Shutterstock
Domestic RPET market participants have struggled to compete with inexpensive imported material for nearly two years. But the lack of a specific Harmonized Tariff System code obscures the scale of the issue even as PET’s share of scrap imports surpassed 50%. Continue Reading
Executives at Advanced Drainage Systems, Mohawk Industries and Azek shared expectations for 2025 housing and construction activity during recent investor calls. | Mega Pixel/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Learn more about durable goods and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland. Continue Reading