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.
The federal government and states that have issued “stay-at-home” orders have decided recycling businesses are “essential.” | youkatan/Shutterstock
In the states that have issued stay-at-home orders, companies engaged in recycling processing or plastic product manufacturing are not subject to forced shutdowns.
An ongoing battle between OPEC and Russia is flooding the market with cheap barrels of oil, threatening downward pressure on virgin plastics prices. | Rebekah Zemansky/Shutterstock
Construction has been delayed on two large U.S. prime plastics plants – one because of high costs and the other due to coronavirus. At the same time, an oil price war put downward pressure on virgin plastic prices.
North American plastics recycling companies are working to prevent the spread of coronavirus within their operations. | joshimerbin/Shutterstock
The global escalation of COVID-19 is leading reclaimers to enact new safety regulations, while on a wider scale it impacts some collection programs, reduces Asian scrap plastics demand, constrains global shipping, dents stock prices and threatens an economic recession.
The EcoCart is made with 10% post-consumer HDPE derived from bulky rigids. | Courtesy of Cascade Cart Solutions
Cascade Cart Solutions has produced 22 million carts for Waste Management over three decades, but last week marked a milestone: the first time the company has deployed carts made with recycled curbside residential plastics.
The Washington legislature passed a bill prohibiting retailers from providing single-use plastic bags and requiring reusable bags have post-consumer content. | anystock/Shutterstock
Washington state lawmakers will send the governor a bill mandating use of recycled plastic in beverage bottles. They also passed a bill banning thin plastic bags and mandating recycled content in thicker reusable bags.
The price of natural high-density polyethylene continues to fall from the high it hit in January. Meanwhile, PET ticked upward over the past month.
How2Recycle Staff emphasize that knowing what not to recycle is just as important as knowing what to recycle. | Dan Leif/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Kal-Polymers installed a customized line at its 110,000-square-foot Flowery Branch, Ga. plant. | Courtesy of Kal-Polymers
Kal-Polymers is spending up to $4 million to install an integrated processing line, which is boosting PP recycling capacity and allowing the firm to handle higher levels of contamination.
The new effort will explore how PP packaging types that are not currently recycled could be in the future. | JohnKwan/Shutterstock
The Recycling Partnership is gearing up to launch the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition to develop holistic solutions for diverting the growing array of packaging made with No. 5 plastic.