Laura Sullivan, a “Frontline” correspondent, investigates plastic waste dumping in Indonesia as part of the “Plastic Wars” episode.
Laura Sullivan, a “Frontline” correspondent, investigates plastic waste dumping in Indonesia as part of the “Plastic Wars” episode.
Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed House Bill 2722, which requires manufacturers to use post-consumer content in plastic bottles. | Photo credit: Governor Inslee’s Office
Washington’s governor vetoed a bill mandating recycled content in beverage containers, citing concerns about the state’s fiscal future given the economic impacts of the coronavirus.
Direct Pack has acquired a Mexico-headquartered recycling operation with capacity to process 40 million pounds per year of PET. | Courtesy of Direct Pack.
U.S. plastic thermoform manufacturer Direct Pack Inc. has acquired a PET reclaimer and is now processing recovered thermoforms at a Mexico site.
Rolph Payet, executive secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, speaks at the Plastics Recycling Conference and Trade Show. | Plastics Recycling Conference/Brian Adams Photography
Scrap plastic exporters should closely monitor policy changes in the countries they sell to as the global community prepares to enact more aggressive shipment requirements, according to the top staff member for the Basel Convention.
The Closed Loop Partners investment will finance Reterra’s move into its recently acquired facility and will help fund equipment purchases. | Natee Meepian/Shutterstock
Closed Loop Partners will invest $2 million in a Houston chemical recycling company that processes PET residue generated by mechanical recycling operations.
Department of Energy grants are available to advance energy-efficient recycling processes. | cwales/Shutterstock
The U.S. Department of Energy will provide up to $25 million for the development of efficiently recycled polymers and improved recycling processes.
The Association of Plastic Recyclers will endorse third-party PCR certification and the American Chemistry Council released principles for mass balance accounting of recycled content. | Praethip Docekalova/Shutterstock
Consumers may want products with recycled plastic, but how can they trust the items contain post-consumer material? Two industry groups have taken steps to answer that question.
Regulatory changes, and an overall sense of uncertainty, are playing into difficulty moving scrap materials abroad. | 28 November Studio/Shutterstock
Overseas markets for recovered plastic, including Malaysia and India, are experiencing disruption as governments enact widespread restrictions and close ports in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes $377 billion for small businesses. | ItzaVU/Shutterstock
The bipartisan stimulus bill signed into law by President Trump last week includes hundreds of billions of dollars in assistance to companies with fewer than 500 employees.
In communities around the country, recycling programs are limiting the materials they collect, altering service hours or shutting down altogether. | Oksana Shturo/Shutterstock
Recycling programs nationwide have curtailed service due to the coronavirus pandemic, potentially hampering the supply of scrap plastics moving to reclaimers in the weeks to come.