The bankruptcy of PET recycling firm CarbonLITE drew reader attention in 2021. | Courtesy of CarbonLITE
As the plastics recycling industry plunges into 2022, it can be useful to set the stage with a look at the biggest trends and developments of the past 12 months.
A home appliance industry leader explains why his group would like to see extended producer responsibility proposals fall by the wayside in favor of the approach in the upcoming California single-use plastics ballot measure. | Joni Hanebutt/Shutterstock
Kimberly-Clark used 2.5% recycled plastic in packaging in 2020, up from 1.9% the previous year. | DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock
A group of brand owners that includes McDonald’s, Kimberly-Clark and others increased their use of recycled plastic over the past couple of years, but they’re still not on pace to hit their goals, according to a report.
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Several technologies for processing post-consumer PET into food and drink packaging have been approved. | srisakorn wonglakorn/Shutterstock
A food-safety panel approved 17 applications to use Starlinger, SML and Protec technologies to recycle post-consumer PET into food and drink packaging. It rejected two other requests.
The processing line at Circulus gives the company the ability to easily switch between processing LDPE, PP and HDPE, although its initial primary focus is on LDPE film. | Courtesy of Circulus
A film recycling company that recently opened its first facility in California aims to launch two additional plants in the U.S. next year, with more on the way in the future.
HDPE bale prices have continued to collapse from their record highs, with natural HDPE down 26% and color HDPE down 33% this month.
Digital nose technology developed by French company Aryballe provides consistent, AI-powered analysis while different humans experience smells differently. | Courtesy of Aryballe
Artificial intelligence is already used to recognize how different scrap plastics look. Now, a Michigan compounder is testing AI to evaluate how recycled resins smell.
A newly published study set out to explore the barriers and possible solutions to growing the use of recycled plastic in food-contact-suitable applications. | StanislauV/Shutterstock
Contaminating additives and declining recycling rates for food packaging are limiting growth in production of food-grade recycled resin, according to research from a consulting firm.
ADS, a publicly traded manufacturer of plastic piping and other water management products, now has a number of plastics recycling operations under its umbrella. | Xato/Shutterstock
Advanced Drainage Systems, one of the largest plastics recycling companies in North America, has acquired its biggest supplier of recycled polypropylene.
Amcor designed a 50-milliliter PET bottle that collapses to be wider than five centimeters, helping to prevent it falling through sorting screens at materials recovery facilities (MRFs). | Courtesy of Amcor Rigid Packaging
One of the world’s largest packaging producers boosted its purchases of post-consumer resin by about 30% last year.
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