Industry Announcements

February 2020

Portugese manufacturer Fapil launched a line of household products made from recycled marine plastic supplied by Waste Free Oceans.

Toy manufacturer Little Tikes rolled out a “Go Green” line of toys made from post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastic.

OPIS PetroChemWire released a free report detailing how 2019 recycled plastics pricing trends have set the stage for the 2020 market.

The Tennessee Aquarium and iSustain are partnering on a research project studying microplastics.

Tomra Sorting Recycling published an e-book about artificial intelligence and its implications for the recycling industry.

Waste Management wrote about its decision to increase PCR use in recycling carts.

Amcor developed a 100% post-consumer resin bottle for a multi-vitamin product. 

Avery Dennison launched a label liner for paper facestocks in North America that is made with 30% post-consumer PET. 

BASF is launching its reciChain platform in British Columbia; the blockchain-based project is focused on improving the traceability of recycled plastics. 

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) approved pilot mobile takeback and bag-drop collection programs for redeeming beverage containers in San Francisco and Culver City. 

Closed Loop Partners released its 2019 Impact Report.  

The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) launched a three-year marketing campaign, Positively PET, to establish a positive voice for PET. 

Unifi announced the recipients of its third-annual Repreve Champions of Sustainability Awards.

Austin Resource Recovery, an Austin, Texas city department, received a $45,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition to increase processing of post-consumer foam polystyrene.

PET reclaimer PetStar received the Ibero-American Quality Award, which recognizes “excellence in process quality control and innovation.”

Plastics Recyclers Europe and other groups released a report covering PET recycling market trends in Europe.

Composite decking manufacturer Trex released a cladding product made from recycled film and wood fiber. The company published a brochure about the cladding material.

Adidas will use 100% recycled polyester fabrics, including one material made partially from ocean plastics.

The AZEK Company, which owns a variety of building and outdoor living product brands, acquired PVC recycler and compounder Return Polymers.

Consolidated Container Co., parent company to reclaimer Envision Plastics, changed its name to Altium Packaging.

Plastic Bank reported on its 2019 progress, noting the organization is now collecting more than 2.2 million pounds of ocean-bound plastic per month.

Styrenics Circular Solutions and Pyrowave will collaborate to evaluate Pyrowave’s proprietary depolymerization technology.

The U.S. Energy Department and American Chemistry Council will collaborate to develop plastics recycling technologies, building on the department’s Plastics Innovation Challenge of 2019.

Waste Management joined the Association of Plastic Recyclers’ Demand Champions program, pledging to buy recycling carts made from 10% PCR.

January 2020

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) updated the tools it provides to increase recycling of grocery store rigid plastics.

Agilyx announced it will open offices in Oslo, Norway and the Boston metro area.

Mondi earned a recyclability certification from the Institute for Recyclability and Product Responsibility for the company’s BarrierPack Recyclable PE film.

NOW Plastics announced it supplies a range of films including some made from recycled plastic.

Sealed Air released a Bubble Wrap that incorporates at least 90% recycled plastic.

Tomra Sorting Recycling opened an office in Charlotte, N.C., serving as the company’s waste and metals recycling headquarters for the Americas.

Unilever is transitioning its Dove brand of body care products to 100% recycled content plastic bottles in North America and Europe when technically feasible.

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste partnered with the Grameen Creative Lab to support development of Zero Plastic Waste Cities.

Waste and recycling container manufacturer Busch Systems announced it earned Certified B Corporation status, which recognizes companies’ social and environmental efforts.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) announced that longtime ISRI employee Mark Reiter passed away on Jan. 15, and former ISRI chair Jerry Simms passed away on Jan. 17. ISRI created tribute pages for both Reiter and Simms.

Fiber producer Unifi announced the release of Repreve cationic-dyeable polyester and of additional Repreve Our Ocean offerings. Repreve is made of recycled polyester.

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.

December 2019

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.

November 2019

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.

October 2019

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.