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Category: Top stories

ICIS expert’s takeaways from NPE 2024

Published: May 30, 2024
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Resin pellets spilling onto black background from tube.

Emily Friedman, a recycled plastics senior editor at ICIS, expects steady growth in U.S. mechanical recycling capacity despite a slowdown on the announcement of greenfield facilities. | Zombiemaster/Shutterstock

After attending NPE 2024, ICIS’s Emily Friedman walked away thinking that producers of durables are showing interest in recycled resins, the plastics industry needs to add its voice to policy discussions, and there’s growth on the horizon for both mechanical and chemical recycling capacity.  Continue Reading

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Chinese shredder parts excluded from import tariffs

Published: May 30, 2024
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The U.S. Trade Representative’s office recently extended a tariff exemption on shredder parts that wear down until the end of May 2025. | cybrain/Shutterstock

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office has extended tariff exemptions that cover certain shredder components imported from China, drawing praise from the Recycled Materials Association. Continue Reading

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For ADS, low bale prices offset decrease in product sales

Published: May 21, 2024
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ADS purchases over 1.1 billion pounds of resin annually from 525 suppliers, half of it recycled, making it the largest plastic recycling company in the U.S. | Courtesy of Advanced Drainage Systems

Advanced Drainage Systems, currently the largest plastics recycling company in the U.S., saw lower sales over the past year due to lower demand in the construction and agricultural markets in mid-2023. But the company still reported record profit, largely due to lower feedstock prices. Continue Reading

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Minnesota EPR program advances in budget bill

Published: May 21, 2024
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Court gavel resting on books and wooden desk.

Minnesota sent an EPR bill to its governor in a budget bill. | Rawf8/Shutterstock

Minnesota is officially the fifth U.S. state to pass extended producer responsibility for packaging after adding the program language into the 2024 Environment and Natural Resources Budget, which the governor signed. Continue Reading

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Entering the digital age of buying and selling

Published: May 21, 2024
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Shannon Gordon, the chief operating officer of Circular.Co., speaks about the growing trend of digital commodity trading at the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference. | Big Wave Productions/Plastics Recycling Update

Online buying, selling and trading is the future of recycled commodity sales – but we’re not in the future quite yet, digital platform providers said at the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference in March.  Continue Reading

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Stakeholders react to CalRecycle director pick

Published: May 15, 2024
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California flag and U.S. flag with blue sky background.

Coming from inside the ranks of the state agency, Zoe Heller was appointed director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery. | Rarrarorro/Shutterstock

California’s sizable waste reduction and recycling agency has a new leader in Zoe Heller, who was recently appointed director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery. Industry leaders praised her integrity, thoughtfulness and collaboration skills. Continue Reading

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Myplas settles eviction lawsuit as facility remains closed

Published: May 15, 2024
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By mid-2023, the Myplas facility had drawn a total investment of $24 million, but it shut down shortly after it opened. | Photo via MBOLD on YouTube

Minnesota-based film recycling company Myplas USA closed its doors just weeks after opening, and was quickly served with an eviction lawsuit. The legal action has been settled out of court, but the facility’s future remains uncertain.
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Analyst lays out cyclic pattern of recycled resin markets

Published: May 8, 2024
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Emily Friedman of ICIS described several trends driving recycled resin markets in the U.S., during the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference in Grapevine, Texas. | Big Wave Productions/Plastics Recycling Update

A long runup in recycled natural HDPE prices came to an end last summer, when prices plummeted to levels not seen since 2019. A market analyst with ICIS recently explained how this has become a trend in the plastics recycling market – and how the cycle is beginning again. Continue Reading

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Scrap plastic exports flat despite regional shifts

Published: May 8, 2024
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Shipping and exports

U.S. exporters shipped 234.6 million pounds of scrap plastic to other countries during the first three months of the year, on par with what was exported during the same period in 2023. | Aaron Jacobs/Shutterstock

More than half of the scrap plastic that left the U.S. in the first quarter of the year stayed in North America, recent export figures indicate. Continue Reading

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