As we enter 2018, the market for most plastic packaging collected at the curb remains unchanged, although PP prices recently took a jump.
As we enter 2018, the market for most plastic packaging collected at the curb remains unchanged, although PP prices recently took a jump.
Prices for natural HDPE bales have increased over the past month, but markets for other recovered plastics have been relatively flat. Mixed-plastic bales continue to trade at record low prices.
At the 2018 Waste Management Sustainability Forum earlier this month, the leader of a startup called Zipline presented an idea that was quite outside the realm of recycling but that could nevertheless help to inspire our industry’s sense of strategic thinking.
When it comes to scrap plastics exports, 2017 was a tale of two years, with China’s import restrictions altering global patterns for the material.
The 13th annual Plastics Recycling Conference, taking place this week in Tennessee, has brought together nearly 2,000 sector executives. That record-high number is a sign of the widespread industry thirst for connection and guidance at a time of unprecedented market disruption.
Both dry and wet de-labeling systems are helping CarbonLite’s new PET recycling facility overcome challenges from problematic bottle labels.
Credit: Nerijus Juras/Shutterstock
A North American recycling operation will open an e-plastics-focused facility in response to Chinese import restrictions.
TerraCycle office in Trenton, N.J. Credit: TerraCycle
TerraCycle is a high-profile company that gets a lot of press, but because it’s a private business, much has been unknown about its operations and income. A new financial filing provides details on how it manages post-consumer plastics, including which major reclaimer it relies on and where it sells recovered resins.
Credit: MAGNIFIER/Shutterstock
Chinese authorities have issued the first five rounds of recyclable-material import permits for 2018. Compared with 2017, the country has allowed in substantially less recovered plastic and approved permits for far fewer companies across all material types.
Credit: Tunatura/Shutterstock
Nearly two-thirds of recyclables exported out of California have been bound for China in recent years, and as the Asian behemoth closes its doors to those imports, the state’s recycling industry is feeling the hit.