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 U.S. in 2019 shipped 9.7 million pounds of recovered PET to South Korea. | Mariusz Bugno/Shutterstock
A large market for U.S. scrap plastic is planning measures to reduce PET imports and increase domestic recycling.
Trex uses about 500 million pounds of recovered polyethylene film and sawdust to make composite lumber each year. | Photo courtesy of Trex online product gallery.
Trex, which uses recovered polyethylene film to make composite wood products, boosted its sales and profits in 2019.
Business challenges related to the wider market are likely to pop up again and again in the coming months. | Poring Studio/Shutterstock
Fires are an ever-present concern for plastics recycling facilities. | zeyaman/Shutterstock
A recently published guidance document helps recycling facilities draft plans to avert and mitigate fires.
Boise’s EnergyBag program has explored a number of alternative processing options while awaiting Renewlogy’s upgrades. | Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
A program collecting hard-to-recycle plastics in Idaho’s largest city has been without a solid market for about a year since downstream outlet Renewlogy stopped accepting loads. After an equipment supply delay due to the coronavirus, the city now says this will continue at least through the summer.
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.