The latest drop-off center from the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative uses AI to rapidly count and identify bottles and other containers. | Marissa Heffernan/Resource Recycling, Inc.
The busiest container redemption center in Oregon recently got an upgrade, delivering the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative’s neural network technology to a consumer-facing location for the first time.
Details on an agreement between LyondellBasell and Envision was of interest to readers last month. | Courtesy of LyondellBasell
Our dissection of Greenpeace’s questionable plastics recycling math drew readers’ interest in November.
The U.S. exported about 737 million pounds of scrap plastic over the course of the first three quarters of 2022. | Sheila Fitzgerald/Shutterstock
U.S. companies exported about 22% less scrap plastic during the first nine months of this year, continuing a trend of decreased overseas shipments.
The partnership between the two companies will help LyondellBasell work toward its goal of marketing 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers annually by 2030. | Courtesy of LyondellBasell
LyondellBasell will buy food-grade post-consumer natural HDPE from Envision Plastics and incorporate that PCR into various blends for sale to packaging producers.
KC Recycling is heavily involved in recycling lead batteries, which are roughly 4-5% polypropylene by weight. | Courtesy of KC Recycling
A British Columbia recycling company has struck a supply deal allowing true closed-loop recycling of polypropylene from lead batteries.
The European Commission is expected to announce the revisions of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive the week of Nov. 28. | VanderWolf Images/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
Online delivery packaging, takeaway cups and plastic drink bottles could see new targets for reuse and recycled content under proposals from the European Commission.
Waste Management (WM) has committed to investing more than $800 million to enhance recycling infrastructure, including $56 million to upgrade three Pacific Northwest materials recovery facilities (MRFs). | Pavel Kubarkov/Shutterstock
Dow and Waste Management are partnering on a pilot program that will give some Chicago residents the option of recycling plastic films curbside.
Amcor’s 2022 sustainability report also noted that 74% of Amcor’s total production by weight is now designed to be recycled and it has made a 33% reduction in material sent to disposal over the past three years. | 360b/Shutterstock
After several years of gains in recycled content usage, Amcor is setting a new recycled content goal of 30% by 2030, tripling its previous target.
Although the majority of companies continued to decrease virgin plastic use, collective use of plastic packaging increased by 4.3% from 2020 to 2021. | Zety Akhzar/Shutterstock
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s latest report showed that major packaging companies doubled their collective PCR percentage from 2018 to 2021. However, pandemic-related commerce trends also helped accelerate virgin plastic consumption.