The 13th annual Plastics Recycling Conference, taking place this week in Tennessee, has brought together nearly 2,000 sector executives. That record-high number is a sign of the widespread industry thirst for connection and guidance at a time of unprecedented market disruption.
Both dry and wet de-labeling systems are helping CarbonLite’s new PET recycling facility overcome challenges from problematic bottle labels.
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A North American recycling operation will open an e-plastics-focused facility in response to Chinese import restrictions.
TerraCycle office in Trenton, N.J. Credit: TerraCycle
TerraCycle is a high-profile company that gets a lot of press, but because it’s a private business, much has been unknown about its operations and income. A new financial filing provides details on how it manages post-consumer plastics, including which major reclaimer it relies on and where it sells recovered resins.
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Chinese authorities have issued the first five rounds of recyclable-material import permits for 2018. Compared with 2017, the country has allowed in substantially less recovered plastic and approved permits for far fewer companies across all material types.
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Nearly two-thirds of recyclables exported out of California have been bound for China in recent years, and as the Asian behemoth closes its doors to those imports, the state’s recycling industry is feeling the hit.
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The recycling industry has not escaped the fallout from a tight trucking market. Recent regulatory movement and a growing driver shortage have contributed to rising freight costs, just months after extreme weather impacted the shipping sector.
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A plastics reclaimer and exporter plans to close its doors, citing impacts from China’s import restrictions as a major factor in the company’s downfall.
The world’s largest restaurant operator will increase access to recycling at its food establishments and make packaging changes to lessen environmental impacts.
Scrap plastic exported out of the U.S. is moving to Southeast Asia, where reclaimers are dramatically increasing purchases as China closes its doors to recovered materials. New figures illustrate that shift.