Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative redeemed 2.09 billion containers in 2023, up from 2.05 billion containers in 2022. | Dan Leif/Resource Recycling
An Oregon beverage stewardship group that manages the oldest container deposit program in the country reported a preliminary 2023 redemption rate of 90.5%, the first time the program has topped 90% since 2019.
The FDA gave a nod to several recycled resin products for food-contact use in various temperatures. | Vershinin89/Shutterstock
In the last half of 2023, numerous plastics recycling processes received the greenlight for use in food and drink packaging production. Continue Reading
Panelist Rebecca Hu said during the session that AI is moving beyond robotics and the technology is on track to provide data and create partnerships that could improve the whole value chain. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
Artificial intelligence is a key element of increasing plastic recycling, panelists at the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference in Grapevine, Texas, said last month. Continue Reading
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
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 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
The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference brought 2,500 attendees together for sessions and a sold-out exhibit hall of more than 240 booths. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference kicked off Monday in Grapevine, Texas, bringing energetic conversations around policy, investments and designing for recyclability. Continue Reading