Recycled material shipments out of the U.S. have been on the decline for multiple years due to overseas regulatory changes. | MAGNIFIER/Shutterstock
U.S. shipments of recycled plastic out of the country were down during the first quarter of 2020 compared with previous years, according to new export data.
Natural HDPE inched up this month, but most other post-consumer plastic grades are trading for lower prices.
The CDC recently released a document covering steps employees and employers in the recycling and waste industries can take to prevent the spread of the virus. | g0d4ather/Shutterstock
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a fact sheet to help keep garbage and recycling industry workers safe during the pandemic.
Campbell’s recently pledged to incorporate 25% recycled plastic in its PET bottles by 2030. | Katherine Welles/Shutterstock
Campbell’s Soup Company, which uses a variety of plastic packaging in addition to its signature steel soup cans, says its PET containers will hit a 25% recycled-content level within a decade.
NRT is currently producing about 75 mask comfort products a day, with the first 300 to be delivered to Nashville hospitals May 6. | Courtesy of National Recovery Technologies (NRT).
Normally, NRT’s 3D printer is busy producing parts for optical sorters and other recycling machinery. But amid the pandemic, the company is also using the technology to make mask straps that help out health care workers.
Officials estimate that 20 projects receiving grants will collectively divert an additional 15,400 tons of post-industrial and post-consumer plastic from landfills each year. | ImagineStock/Shutterstock
North Carolina recently awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to help plastics recycling companies invest in new equipment.
Cement Lock can use scrap plastic to fuel its rotary kilns, which produce an additive used in cement production. | Courtesy of Cement Lock.
A Florida company is working to commercialize a process that uses low-value scrap plastic as fuel in cement production.
An industry analyst recently noted that low virgin resin pricing means challenges for ensuring end users choose to use recycled plastic. | batuhan taskinkaya/Shutterstock
The coronavirus pandemic has piled on top of existing plastics recycling market strife to cause pricing fluctuations and create uncertainty about how end users will meet their sustainability commitments.
California cities of 50,000 residents or more are seeing inbound contamination rates between 8% and 46%, with an average of 20%. | Oksana Shturo/Shutterstock
Plastic film has long been identified as a major contaminant in municipal materials recovery programs. Research from the West Coast shows just how challenging it has been to educate residents around proper bag behavior.
News about a $32 million project to upgrade DAK Americas’ Richmond, Ind. plant drew attention last month. | Courtesy of DAK Americas
Readers last month were drawn to a mix of stories about PET recycling technology investments, vetoed recycled-content legislation and our editor’s take on “Plastic Wars.”