Industry Announcements
Plastics Recycling Update highlights the latest announcements from industry companies and organizations. For information on submitting press releases or contributing op-eds to us, review our FAQ page.
Plastics Recycling Update highlights the latest announcements from industry companies and organizations. For information on submitting press releases or contributing op-eds to us, review our FAQ page.
Baltimore‘s mayor signed legislation that will ban retailers from offering customers plastic bags beginning in 2021.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched Circulytics, described as a tool to help companies track their progress on circular economy goals.
Glenroy, a converter and printer of flexible packaging, joined the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and How2Recycle label program.
Novolex launched EcoSense foodservice ware, a line of catering materials with more than 40% recycled content.
The Ocean Plastics Leadership Network launched, with brand owners, waste management firms, industry associations, environmental groups and others among its membership.
BP, Danone, Unilever and other stakeholders formed a consortium to advance the BP Infinia chemical recycling technology.
HP released products and packaging made with recycled materials, including ocean plastics.
Innovative Recycling announced it will expand its plastics-to-fuel operation. The facility, which will be capable of processing 26.5 tons per day, is anticipated to be fully operational by April.
Canadian petrochemicals company Inter Pipeline and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) entered a partnership to advance plastics recycling research.
Additive manufacturer PolyOne will buy Clariant’s masterbatches business for $1.45 billion.
Agilyx announced a collaboration with General Electric to bring artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive modeling to chemical recycling of recovered plastics.
The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) announced its new leadership team and board of directors for 2020.
ESKA Natural Spring Water will convert its line of non-carbonated bottled water products to 100% recycled-content bottles, using RPET supplied by Quebec reclaimer Plastrec.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed into law a ban on single-use plastic and polystyrene foodservice ware on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
Mattel announced a goal of achieving 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic in all products and packaging by 2030.
Chemical recycling firm Agilyx and resin producer INEOS Styrolution announced their development of a PS chemical recycling facility in Channahon, Ill.
The American Chemistry Council announced that Steve Russell, vice president of the organization’s Plastics Division, will retire in February.
Circulate Capital, an investment firm focusing on Southeast Asian waste management infrastructure development, announced the first close of its $106 million Circulate Capital Ocean Fund.
The Global Recycling Foundation announced that Global Recycling Day will be observed on March 18, 2020.
Novolex subsidiary Waddington North America released EcoSense, a line of catering foodservice products made from recycled PS. The company’s other recycled-content products include cutlery and garbage bags made from recycled plastic.
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste announced that Charter NEX Films, Geocycle, Milliken & Company and Pregis joined the organization.
Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow released a report detailing its activities throughout 2019.
Coca-Cola pledged to use 100% recycled plastic in its PET bottles sold in Sweden.
Plastics producer Indorama joined The Recycling Partnership.
The Foundation for Plastic Recycling elected Ed Socci of PepsiCo and Stephanie Baker of KW Plastics to serve on its board of directors.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) is accepting entries for the 2020 Design for Recycling Award.
The Plastics Industry Association issued a report detailing its secondary sorting demonstration project that recently concluded.
Payment card reader company iZettle launched a card reader made largely from fishing nets and ropes collected from the North and Baltic seas.
PET depolymerization company Loop Industries and beauty products company L’OCCITANE en Provence will expand their supply agreement.
Beverage brand REBBL will convert its bottles to 100% post-consumer PET.
Brand owner Reckitt Benckiser (RB) and Veolia formed a partnership.
Tom’s of Maine, which is owned by Colgate-Palmolive, released a HDPE toothpaste tube that received recyclability recognition from the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR).
Chemical recycling firm Agilyx will open offices in the Boston area and Northern Europe to support the company’s global expansion.
Packaging company Berry Global Group is working with plastics producer SABIC to use polyolefins made via chemical recycling.
Biocellection, a California chemical recycling company targeting PE film, was named the runner-up in the QBE and Ashoka Urban Resilience Challenge.
Virgin plastics producer MOL Group completed its acquisition of Aurora, a German plastics compounding company. The move was first announced last spring.
Netafim USA rebranded its Fowler, Calif. recycling center to be called Netafim ReGen Recycling.
Plastic Bank in September marked its first month of collecting more than 1 million pounds of ocean-bound plastic waste.
Project STOP, an initiative that works with cities to stop plastic waste from leaking into marine environments, received an award at the Abu Dhabi International Exhibition & Conference.
The Recycling Partnership officially launched its Pathway to Recyclability initiative, which will explore some of the needs outlined in the organization’s Bridge to Circularity report.
Agilyx processed 1,300 pounds of single-use plastic cups collected from the Oregon Brewers Festival over the summer.
Austria-based packaging manufacturer Alpla signed purchase agreements for the acquisition of two Spanish HDPE recycling operations: Suminco S.A. in Montcada (near Barcelona) and Replacal S.L. in Palencia (north of Madrid).
Plastics-to-fuel operator Brightmark Energy has launched a nationwide site search as it looks to develop facilities beyond the one it is currently constructing in Ashley, Ind.
The Foodservice Packaging Institute and the Association of Plastic Recyclers published a fact sheet detailing end markets for recycled polypropylene.
Keep America Beautiful chose the American Chemistry Council (ACC) as its 2019 Vision for America Award recipient.
Nestlé Waters North America introduced a line of DC Comics-themed 100% RPET water bottles.
Plastics Industry Association President and CEO Tony Radoszewski testified before Congress, speaking about a number of plastic waste-related topics during a hearing on plastic pollution.
BASF and Greentown Labs selected five startups, including a plastics recycling company, to join the Circularity Challenge, a six-month accelerator program.
Investment management firm Circulate Capital, which focuses on ocean plastics solutions, created a nonprofit group called The Circulate Initiative.
Gerber partnered with TerraCycle to launch a recycling program for baby food packaging.
Sorting equipment company Tomra announced a commitment to enable 40% of plastic packaging produced globally each year to be collected for recycling by 2030.
The EPS Industry Alliance released its 2018 EPS Recycling Report, indicating that 39.7 million pounds of post-consumer EPS were recycled last year. The report does not give a recycling rate.
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) launched ZeroWasteWorld.org.
The National Recycling Coalition and the California Resource Recovery Association will host a recycling market development workshop next month in Chula Vista, Calif.
A New York Assembly bill would implement recycled plastic mandates for all single-use containers, similar to a stalled proposal in California.
U.K. waste management firm Biffa called for a ban on exporting plastics from the U.K. An export ban, the company asserted, would encourage domestic plastics recycling.
Dow held #PullingOurWeight, an initiative to collect 100,000 pounds of waste at more than 100 sites around the world.
The Foodservice Packaging Institute announced that Natha Dempsey will serve as the association’s president beginning Nov. 1, replacing longtime leader Lynn Dyer. Dempsey currently serves as vice president.
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) announced the winners of its annual Plastics Industry Leadership Awards. Nova Chemicals employees received three awards.
Clorox announced a number of sustainability pledges, including that the company will cut its virgin plastic use in half by 2030.
Greenmantra commissioned a chemical recycling demonstration facility that will use polystyrene as a feedstock to produce specialty polymers.
NSF International began developing a “Recycled Material Standard” on behalf of environmental organization GreenBlue, which oversees the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.
Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Resource Recycling, Plastics Recycling Update and E-Scrap News, created an FAQ page for people interested in submitting press releases and op-eds for publication.
Unilever pledged to reduce its plastic packaging by half, eliminating more than 100,000 metric tons of the materials. The company also vowed to accelerate its use of recycled plastic.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded engineering and consulting firm Tetra Tech a $48 million contract to boost marine plastics recovery and recycling in the developing world.
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste announced a partnership with Project STOP to support development of circular waste management systems in Indonesia.
The Foam Recycling Coalition awarded the Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCRRA) of Michigan a $50,000 grant to buy a foam densifier.
Packaging production equipment company Krones has partnered with recycling equipment company Stadler to offer single-sourced, turnkey factories and jointly develop new technologies.
Tangent Technologies, a reclaimer that manufacturers recycled PE lumber, acquired one of its distributors, Vinyl Tech, and another wood-alternative products manufacturer, Home & Leisure.
The Recycling Partnership launched a Film and Flexibles Task Force, with Amazon, Dow, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble serving as anchor funders and advisers.
American Express and Parley for the Oceans will release a credit card made primarily from recycled ocean-bound plastic.
Aquafil announced that its Econyl recycled nylon contributes to LEED v4 points, which are used to gauge sustainability in building design.
Dart Container Corporation will sponsor all of Keep America Beautiful’s national “plogging” (picking up litter while jogging) initiatives, including the Keep America Beautiful Trash Dash.
PepsiCo announced its goal of reducing its use of virgin plastic in bottles by 35% by 2025. The company will do so by increasing its use of recycled plastic and by switching to alternative materials such as aluminum.
Bausch Health Companies released its corporate sustainability report, indicating it recycled contact lenses and packaging totaling over 55,000 pounds last year.
PepsiCo Recycling and author Jeff Kinney began a recycling outreach campaign geared towards children and young adults, called “Be Awesome! Recycle!”
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste appointed Jacob Duer as the organization’s first CEO. Duer most recently served as a program director for the U.N. Environment Programme.
Consumer goods manufacturer Henkel hosted U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at the company’s Stamford, Conn. headquarters to discuss sustainability commitments and plastic packaging developments.
PE supplier Nova Chemicals appointed Sarah Marshall as the company’s director of sustainability. Marshall formerly served as chair of the board of directors for the Canadian Plastics Industry Association.
A majority interest of Shred-Tech was acquired by Heico, a holding company.
Van Dyk Recycling Solutions and the Association of Plastic Recyclers will hold a training conference on design-for-recyclability at the Van Dyk Technology and Material Test Center in Norwalk, Conn.
Government leaders in Ontario, Canada announced the Blue Box Program will transition to a full producer responsibility system by 2023.
Cleanfarms, which operates agricultural plastics recycling programs in Saskatchewan, reported the grain bag recycling volume is up 25% in 2019 compared with the entirety of 2018.
Novolex, which recycles film into new bags, launched the Novolex Supplier Code of Conduct.
The Container Recycling Institute published a response to the closure of rePlanet, California’s largest operator of container redemption centers.
Magnum, an ice cream brand owned by Unilever, began producing ice cream tubs made from recycled polypropylene.
Poland Spring and The Recycling Partnership launched the #NotTrash Instagram campaign.
Apparel producer Solgaard released a line of bags and backpacks made from recycled ocean-bound plastics.
Alpek Polyester, a major PET producer and recycler, joined The Recycling Partnership.
The Carolinas Plastics Recycling Council (CPRC) and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) will hold a joint meeting focused on plastics recycling, to be held Nov. 7-8 in Ft. Mill, S.C.
Investment management firm Circulate Capital opened a Singapore office and announced that CEO Rob Kaplan is relocating to the Southeast Asian country.
Research firm ICIS released its findings that the European recycling industry will miss its 2025 PET bottle recycling rate target of 77% unless stakeholders grow collection volumes.
The Plastics Industry Association selected Tony Radoszewski to be the organization’s next president and CEO. Radoszewski previously served as president of the Plastics Pipe Institute.