Plastics recycling is drawing mainstream media attention in the wake of recent data showing low and declining recycling rates in the U.S. | lary_bird/Shutterstock
A recent report on plastic recycling rates from The Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics has attracted the attention of several large news outlets and the mainstream public, but industry leaders said the data is misleading and counter-productive.
The introduction of the EPR bill came after lawmakers stripped a prior EPR program out of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget proposal. | Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock
An extended producer responsibility bill that has the support of environmental activists was recently introduced in New York, while a Colorado EPR bill moved to the Senate floor.
Secondary-sortation sites run by AMP Robotics are targeting a wide variety of materials that come from MRFs and other sources. | Courtesy of AMP Robotics
AMP Robotics is now breaking and sorting materials recovery facility residual bales at secondary-sortation operations in Colorado, Georgia and Ohio.
A number of prominent names are financing Myplas USA’s first U.S. polyethylene film recycling plant, to be located in Rogers, Minn., outside of Minneapolis. | Joyce Blessthink/Shutterstock
Brand owners and other private and public entities are investing millions of dollars into a plastic reclaimer’s project to build a 170,000-square-foot film recycling facility in the Upper Midwest.
Federal researchers found study also found that only about 5% of discarded plastic in the U.S. was recycled in 2019, while 86% was left in landfills and 9% was burned to generate electricity. | Huguette Roe/Shutterstock
A study from the U.S. Department of Energy estimated the amount of plastic discarded in the U.S. in 2019 was 44 million metric tons, higher than other estimates.
An SEC fact-finding investigation into PP recycling startup PureCycle recently concluded without further action. | AevanStock/Shutterstock
PET recycling startup Loop Industries agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle a lawsuit from investors, and regulators have ended their investigation of PP recycling startup PureCycle Technologies without taking further action.
Michigan-based East Jordan Plastics recycles over 20 million pounds of horticultural containers each year. | apple2499/Shutterstock
East Jordan Plastics, one of the largest horticultural container manufacturers in North America, announced it will build a $44 million facility in Lyons, Ga.
Broken down by scrap type, a study found that bottles, non-bottle rigid plastics and other plastics all saw declines individually in 2020. | TeuNg StyLe/Shutterstock
The U.S. is processing more of its scrap plastic domestically, but the overall weight of plastic recycled in 2020 dropped just under 6% from 2019, according to an annual industry report.
Packaging companies recently announced they will purchase recycled resin produced through ExxonMobil’s chemical recycling technology. | Katherine Welles/Shutterstock
Multiple companies announced they will be increasing their use of chemically recycled plastics in pursuit of their recycled-content goals, and a consumer goods group said it supports chemical recycling.
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) on April 14 released 2021 data on virgin and recycled plastic usage in beverage containers covered by the state’s deposit law. | Pazargic Liviu/Shutterstock
This story has been corrected.
Numbers for 2021 show some big beverage brands were ahead of the game when it comes to complying with California’s recycled-content law, including BlueTriton Brands, Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo. Others remained far short of the targets set by the state.