Back to Top

Category: Top stories

Q&A: With EPR incoming, end markets are crucial

Published: June 25, 2025
Updated:

by

Although extended producer responsibility is poised to capture substantially more material, The Recycling Partnership’s CEO says it’s important to ensure that material has an end market. | New Africa/Shutterstock

Backed by major brands, The Recycling Partnership has become well-known in the materials recovery sector over the past decade for boosting access to recycling, in particular by helping municipalities roll out recycling carts, improve outreach and reduce contamination. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |

Bottle cap design: No need to ‘reinvent the wheel’

Published: June 25, 2025
Updated:

by

State-level initiatives have suggested PET closures and tethered caps, but these designs may introduce complications while attempting to provide a solution. | FotoDax/Shutterstock

Mono-material design often is the goal for packaging, but due to color and sortation nuances it may not be the best approach for beverage containers, according to a packaging design expert during a recent webinar.  Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |

Researchers: Effective plastic treaty requires production cuts

Published: June 25, 2025
Updated:

by

Scientists from nine universities worked together on a paper, focused on the need to reduce plastic production. | Poring Studio/Shutterstock

Scientists from universities in several countries released a paper that concluded production cuts must be part of the legally binding treaty to manage global plastic pollution if it’s to achieve its goals.  Continue Reading

Major plastic initiative sets sights on system change

Published: June 18, 2025
Updated:

by
Holding a PET bottle for recycling

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste announced a shift in focus from small projects to wide-scale efforts to improve recycling on a national scale. | spwidoff/Shutterstock

Five years after its billion-dollar founding, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste is taking what it learned from one-off projects and shifting its attention to country-scale change.  Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , , |

Coke bottler’s switch to clear PET provides lessons learned

Published: June 18, 2025
Updated:

by
Sprite bottles in store.

A case study from the Northeast Recycling Council details a regional bottler’s journey from green PET to clear. | Adnan Zain Kautsar/Shutterstock

A recent case study from the Northeast Recycling Council offers insights on transitioning packaging materials, gleaned from a regional Coca-Cola bottler that switched from green PET to clear for several of its products. Continue Reading

How MRFs develop their accepted material lists

Published: June 11, 2025
Updated:

by

Material acceptance at MRFs varies widely by locality, but several stakeholders explained the factors behind such wide-reaching decisions. | StoyanYotov/Shutterstock

Several MRF operators recently provided insight into how their facilities decide what materials to accept, during a discussion on bridging the disconnect between brand owners and MRFs. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |

UN member countries bring focus to plastic treaty

Published: June 11, 2025
Updated:

by
Plastics waste on a beach seen from above.

The majority of UN member countries used the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, to bring awareness to the approaching treaty negotiations. | Mario De Moya F/Shutterstock

More than 90 countries called for a renewed focus on a global plastics treaty during a recent United Nations Ocean Conference, as the clock runs down toward the next round of treaty negotiations.  Continue Reading

Beverage and bag producers fined for recycled resin failures

Published: June 11, 2025
Updated:

by
used beverage containers

Two dozen plastics producers were penalized for failing to use the minimum recycled content required in Washington state. | Emilija Miljkovic/Shutterstock

Plastics producers who failed to meet Washington state’s minimum post-consumer resin threshold were recently hit with fines ranging from a couple hundred dollars up to $55,000. Continue Reading

Texas plant in limbo after Eastman loses DOE grant

Published: May 30, 2025
Updated:

by

The $375 million grant represented about one-third of the required funding for the company’s second U.S. chemical recycling plant. The operational Kingsport, Tennessee facility is pictured. | Photo Courtesy of Eastman

Tennessee-based Eastman has lost its $375 million federal grant, which previously had spurred the company to make a final investment decision on its second U.S. methanolysis plant, located in Texas. 

Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |