Despite progress, producers are largely still not ready for approaching EPR requirements, industry players predict. | Josep Curto/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Learn more about policy trends and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland.
With about six months to go until the first extended producer responsibility program for packaging in the U.S. goes live, producers are still largely unprepared but moving in the right direction, those monitoring the transition said.
Two university teams developed processes using electromagnetic waves and engineered wastewater bacteria to address plastic pollution. | Poring Studio/Shutterstock
University researchers have come up with two new methods to break down plastic waste – one for reuse and the other to rid wastewater of microplastics. Continue Reading
The guide directs users to various retail and other collection sites around the U.S. that accept film for drop-off recycling. | Mabeline72/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Learn more about film recycling trends and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland. Continue Reading
Curbside plastic grades either jumped up significantly in price or remained steady at the beginning of 2025.
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While overall workplace fatalities decreased in the U.S. in 2023, the waste and recycling industry was a troubling outlier. | Wave Break Media/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
Nine workers died in U.S. materials recovery facilities in 2023 and the death rate for refuse and recyclable material collectors jumped more than 80%, according to the latest annual numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue Reading
Tennessee State Sen. Heidi Campbell is re-introducing a packaging EPR bill crafted to gain Republican and business support. | RebeccaDLev/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Learn more about policy trends and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland.
A Tennessee lawmaker is reintroducing an extended producer responsibility bill for packaging – with some twists, in an attempt to get it through the Republican-controlled Legislature. Continue Reading
As 2024 wound to close, major plastic resin producers were hit with two similar recycling-related class-action lawsuits – the latest in a growing trend of pursuing legal means of recouping costs for plastic pollution. | Zolnierek/Shutterstock
ExxonMobil on Monday filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alleging that he and several environmental groups defamed the global oil and chemical company “for politics, publicity and private gain.” Continue Reading
Secondary sortation will continue to play a role in the recycling value chain, panelists said. | Dan Holtmeyer/Resource Recycling
With materials recovery facilities becoming ever more sophisticated and AI and robotics providing customizable levels of materials sortation, chemical recycling feedstock provides the most promising end market for secondary sorting, according to panelists at the recent Resource Recycling Conference.
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