U.S. electronics recycling companies and brokers say they’re currently able to move e-plastics. | Alexey Lesik/Shutterstock
Asia remains the destination for many plastics recovered from electronics. But as buyers relocate from China to other countries, prices are down and quality and volume are increasingly critical factors.
Dow recently announced it will collaborate with a Thai virgin plastics producer on recycling solutions. | Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
Dow recently inked agreements to boost plastics recovery in Europe and Southeast Asia, including through the use of chemical recycling technologies.
The U.S. has become a focus of investment for a small yet growing portion of the Chinese scrap processing industry. Backers of two in-development operations note they are looking for regulatory stability and a strong supply of recyclables.
During the first six months of 2019, India brought in 156 million pounds of U.S. scrap plastics. | Avigator Fortuner/Shutterstock
Recovered plastic has largely stopped flowing from the U.S. into India, which until recently has been among the top importers of the material.
84 containers will be returned to countries of origin. | porjai kittawornrat/Shutterstock
More Southeast Asian nations are sending contaminated recyclables back to their originating country, as governments in the region continue to grapple with higher scrap plastic and paper import volumes.
Mainstream media seems to be intensifying its coverage of plastics management problems, a trend emblemized this week by the launch of a series in The Guardian newspaper.
U.S. recovered plastic exports grew slightly in April, hitting their largest monthly volume so far in 2019.
Coca-Cola will invest more than $19 million in a PET recycling facility in the Philippines, marking the company’s first plastics recycling operation in Southeast Asia.
The U.S. government is using the power of the federal purse to help boost recycling infrastructure in Asia.
A country that has taken in increasing volumes of scrap material will return dozens of containers to their countries of origin, including the U.S. and Canada.