Phoenix Technologies was one of a handful of U.S. reclaimers to be acquired by virgin plastics companies in 2019. | Leonid Sorokin/Shutterstock
Since virgin plastics company Far Eastern New Century acquired Phoenix Technologies last June, the U.S. PET reclaimer has lost substantial amounts of money.
Prices for natural HDPE bales have remained at record highs this month, but color HDPE bale prices have fallen.
Dow is aiming to have a significant supply of post-consumer resin products. | StanislauV/Shutterstock
Dow signed a deal to buy recycled polyethylene pellets from Avangard Innovative, allowing the petrochemical giant to provide recycled-content plastic to North American customers for the first time.
Michael Pluimer of Crossroad Engineering Services gathers data on the performance of recycled-HDPE corrugated pipe in southeastern Pennsylvania. | Courtesy of Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS).
This article has been corrected.
A group’s green light to use recycled HDPE in road drainage pipes opens a potentially massive market for recovered plastic. Officials recently explained the work that drove the decision.
Through the Bradley Beach, N.J. partnership, SC Johnson is providing financial support to assist with infrastructure costs. | Courtesy of SC Johnson
SC Johnson recently launched a pilot curbside film collection program in a small New Jersey community. Rather than mix film into existing single-stream recycling, the program has residents use a dedicated container.
The research firm McKinsey & Co. identified a number of challenges and opportunities to increasing plastics recovery in the U.S. | Uroš Medved/Shutterstock
As opposed to reducing and reusing, recycling has the greatest potential to cut down on plastic waste, according to McKinsey & Co. But processing solutions don’t lie solely with mechanical recycling.
Shifting export markets captured our audience’s attention throughout 2019. | AlexKol Photography/Shutterstock
The past year has without question been one of the most turbulent in the history of the plastic recycling sector. Export markets have shifted, chemical recycling concepts have gained prominence and processors targeting a variety of resin types have moved boldly. That’s given our editorial staff lots to chew on – and offered readers plenty to click.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Plastics Innovation Challenge will promote production of plastic products that are recyclable by design. | Jer123/Shutterstock
A U.S. Department of Energy initiative seeks to boost plastics recycling, setting a handful of goals to hit by 2030 and highlighting funding opportunities to advance technology.
The NAPCOR report shows over 1.8 billion pounds of PET bottles were collected in the U.S. for recycling in 2018. | pook jun/Shutterstock
More PET bottles were collected for recycling last year, but the overall recycling rate remains stagnant, according to an industry report.
In October, India’s imports of U.S. scrap plastics dropped to their lowest single-month volume since at least 2002. | November Studio/Shutterstock
Export figures continue to show the power of recycled plastic import restrictions in Southeast Asia. Countries that were previously the largest overseas markets have seen massive decreases in U.S. plastic imports since mid-2018.