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Category: News

Eastman sites second chemical recycling facility

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by

The new facility will have the capacity to recycle approximately 110,000 metric tons annually. | Mr_Mrs_Marcha/Shutterstock

Eastman is planning to build its second chemical recycling facility in Longview, Texas, and the U.S. Department of Energy will grant the project up to $375 million, the company recently announced.  Continue Reading

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California releases deposit system update draft rules

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by
Different beverage containers, metal, glass and plastic.

SB 1013 brought more container types into the California Redemption Value system but also removed an option for retailers to choose to pay a $100 daily fee instead of accepting returned containers. | VanderWolf/Shutterstock

Formal rulemaking for changes to California’s deposit system is about to begin, and draft rules shed more light on new requirements for beverage dealers and retailers. Continue Reading

Panel digs into intersection of design, recyclability

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by

The first day of the annual Plastics Recycling Conference covered the state of the industry and the ways that recycling can improve with better packaging design and stakeholder collaboration. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling

Plastic packaging could be designed for recycling from the start, rather than squeezed haphazardly into recycling systems after the fact, with greater collaboration and stakeholder involvement along the entire value chain, several speakers said Monday at the Plastics Recycling Conference in Grapevine, Texas.  Continue Reading

RPET imports driving ‘perfect storm’ for reclaimers

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by
PET bale for recycling.

In January 2024, the U.S. imported 52.5 million pounds of scrap PET, over double the amount imported into the country in January 2023. | MarieKaz/Shutterstock

Scrap PET imports reached an all-time single-month record high in January, coming on the heels of a year that brought record-high imports of the post-consumer resin.  Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories |

Plastics Recycling Conference dives into industry trends

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by

The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference brought 2,500 attendees together for sessions and a sold-out exhibit hall of more than 240 booths. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling

The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference kicked off Monday in Grapevine, Texas, bringing energetic conversations around policy, investments and designing for recyclability.  Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |

Report takes aim at drop-off recycling system

Published: March 20, 2024
Updated:

by
Amazon Prime plastic bubble shipping mailer.

A new study placed Apple AirTag and Android Tile tracking devices in 93 bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging and tracked where the material ended up. | Oasisamuel/Shutterstock

An investigation that placed tracking devices in bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging and dropped them off in store collection receptacles around the U.S. found a “failing” drop-off collection system, its authors said. Amazon said it can’t control how material is handled once it enters the recycling system.

The Amazon-focused report, released March 19 and authored by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Environment America, is titled “Truth in Recycling: Does Amazon’s plastic packaging actually get recycled?”

Although it takes aim at Amazon’s plastic packaging materials, the U.S. PIRG report is more of an indictment of the plastic film drop-off system in the U.S. It comes on the heels of a similar investigation by ABC News last year, and it comes shortly after the leading directory listing drop-off locations for plastic materials was taken down last year due to funding and concerns about its accuracy.

In the latest report, the authors placed Apple AirTag and Android Tile tracking devices in 93 bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging, including bags and air pillows, and placed them in store drop-off collection locations. Then they tracked where the material ended up.

Of the 93 tracked bundles, 24 ended up at major PE recycling company Trex, 19 went to store distribution centers, 13 ended up in landfills, 13 never left the store they were dropped off at, eight went to transfer stations or “near multiple disposal sites,” four went to MRFs or other sorting facilities, four died in transit, three made it to a port, two went to an incinerator, and one each went to a composting facility, auto dealer and small freight firm.

“The store drop-off system for recycling plastic film is failing,” the authors wrote, adding it provides evidence contradicting Amazon’s claims about packaging recyclability.

“No matter how much Amazon and others say its packaging is ‘recyclable,’ the truth is that plastic never has been widely recycled and likely never will be,” the report states. “The better approach to plastic packaging is to stop producing and using it.”

In a statement to Plastics Recycling Update, Pat Lindner, Amazon’s vice president of sustainable packaging, pointed to the company’s work with The Recycling Partnership and other projects to improve recycling infrastructure.

“Amazon is continuously reducing packaging waste and working to make recycling easier for customers, however, we do not have control over how packaging is handled once it has been disposed of by municipalities or recycling centers,” Lindner said.

Although the largest portion ended up at Trex, the report considers material that ended up at Trex in the same category as material that was landfilled or incinerated. The report acknowledges there are “some positives to Trex’s products,” but it also criticizes Trex as a “downcycler” for using the plastic in decking materials rather than putting it back into packaging. 

It also casts doubt on how much of the post-consumer plastic film dropped off in stores, a major collection source Trex has built up as its NexTrex program, makes it into Trex products due to contamination. Trex uses both post-consumer material and cleaner film from commercial sources like warehouses and back-of-house retail locations.

The report indicates it’s unclear what happened to the 19 bundles that were tracked to store distribution centers or warehouses. “It is possible that the trackers died before the plastic was transferred from the distribution center to a recycler, landfill, Trex, or that the plastic could simply be sitting there with no place to go,” the authors wrote.

The sorting facilities that received four of the tracked bundles were K&S Recycling in Vancouver, Washington, which received two tracked loads from New Seasons grocery stores in Portland, Oregon; Independent Recycling Services of Chicago, which received a tracked load from Tony’s Fresh Market in Chicago; and Polyfit in Tecate, Mexico, a plastics reclaimer that received material from a Sprouts store in Culver City, California. 

The report’s authors contacted the two MRFs, which confirmed they didn’t accept plastic film – few U.S. MRFs do – and they couldn’t reach the reclaimer in Mexico.

More stories about research

Posted in News | Tagged |

Eastman sites second chemical recycling facility

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by

The new facility will have the capacity to recycle approximately 110,000 metric tons annually. | Mr_Mrs_Marcha/Shutterstock

Eastman is planning to build its second chemical recycling facility in Longview, Texas, and the U.S. Department of Energy will grant the project up to $375 million, the company recently announced.  Continue Reading

Posted in News | Tagged |

California releases deposit system update draft rules

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by
Different beverage containers, metal, glass and plastic.

SB 1013 brought more container types into the California Redemption Value system but also removed an option for retailers to choose to pay a $100 daily fee instead of accepting returned containers. | VanderWolf/Shutterstock

Formal rulemaking for changes to California’s deposit system is about to begin, and draft rules shed more light on new requirements for beverage dealers and retailers. Continue Reading

Panel digs into intersection of design, recyclability

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by

The first day of the annual Plastics Recycling Conference covered the state of the industry and the ways that recycling can improve with better packaging design and stakeholder collaboration. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling

Plastic packaging could be designed for recycling from the start, rather than squeezed haphazardly into recycling systems after the fact, with greater collaboration and stakeholder involvement along the entire value chain, several speakers said Monday at the Plastics Recycling Conference in Grapevine, Texas.  Continue Reading

RPET imports driving ‘perfect storm’ for reclaimers

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by
PET bale for recycling.

In January 2024, the U.S. imported 52.5 million pounds of scrap PET, over double the amount imported into the country in January 2023. | MarieKaz/Shutterstock

Scrap PET imports reached an all-time single-month record high in January, coming on the heels of a year that brought record-high imports of the post-consumer resin.  Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories |

Plastics Recycling Conference dives into industry trends

Published: March 26, 2024
Updated:

by

The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference brought 2,500 attendees together for sessions and a sold-out exhibit hall of more than 240 booths. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling

The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference kicked off Monday in Grapevine, Texas, bringing energetic conversations around policy, investments and designing for recyclability.  Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |

High schooler wins prize for new kind plastic

Published: March 20, 2024
Updated:

by

High schooler Nathan Wei’s project, “Novel Elastomeric Polystyrene via Photopolymerization and Post-Functionalization of Durable Ultra-High Molecular Weight Perfluorostyrene Copolymers,” won fourth prize in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. | Courtesy of Regeneron Science Talent Search

A high school senior from Gainesville, Florida, took fourth place in a national science competition based on his work to make it easier to break down hard-to-recycle plastics.  Continue Reading

Posted in News |

Limited PCR supply a ‘key constraint’ for end users

Published: March 20, 2024
Updated:

by
Plastic resin on a white background.

Companies that have voluntarily signed on with the U.S. Plastics Pact used 9.4% post-consumer recycled resin in 2022, up from 8% the prior year. | Saravutpics/Shutterstock

Companies producing a third of all plastic packaging by weight in the U.S. used 9.4% post-consumer recycled resin in 2022, up from 8% the prior year, the U.S. Plastics Pact recently reported. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged |

Report takes aim at drop-off recycling system

Published: March 20, 2024
Updated:

by
Amazon Prime plastic bubble shipping mailer.

A new study placed Apple AirTag and Android Tile tracking devices in 93 bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging and tracked where the material ended up. | Oasisamuel/Shutterstock

An investigation that placed tracking devices in bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging and dropped them off in store collection receptacles around the U.S. found a “failing” drop-off collection system, its authors said. Amazon said it can’t control how material is handled once it enters the recycling system.

The Amazon-focused report, released March 19 and authored by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Environment America, is titled “Truth in Recycling: Does Amazon’s plastic packaging actually get recycled?”

Although it takes aim at Amazon’s plastic packaging materials, the U.S. PIRG report is more of an indictment of the plastic film drop-off system in the U.S. It comes on the heels of a similar investigation by ABC News last year, and it comes shortly after the leading directory listing drop-off locations for plastic materials was taken down last year due to funding and concerns about its accuracy.

In the latest report, the authors placed Apple AirTag and Android Tile tracking devices in 93 bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging, including bags and air pillows, and placed them in store drop-off collection locations. Then they tracked where the material ended up.

Of the 93 tracked bundles, 24 ended up at major PE recycling company Trex, 19 went to store distribution centers, 13 ended up in landfills, 13 never left the store they were dropped off at, eight went to transfer stations or “near multiple disposal sites,” four went to MRFs or other sorting facilities, four died in transit, three made it to a port, two went to an incinerator, and one each went to a composting facility, auto dealer and small freight firm.

“The store drop-off system for recycling plastic film is failing,” the authors wrote, adding it provides evidence contradicting Amazon’s claims about packaging recyclability.

“No matter how much Amazon and others say its packaging is ‘recyclable,’ the truth is that plastic never has been widely recycled and likely never will be,” the report states. “The better approach to plastic packaging is to stop producing and using it.”

In a statement to Plastics Recycling Update, Pat Lindner, Amazon’s vice president of sustainable packaging, pointed to the company’s work with The Recycling Partnership and other projects to improve recycling infrastructure.

“Amazon is continuously reducing packaging waste and working to make recycling easier for customers, however, we do not have control over how packaging is handled once it has been disposed of by municipalities or recycling centers,” Lindner said.

Although the largest portion ended up at Trex, the report considers material that ended up at Trex in the same category as material that was landfilled or incinerated. The report acknowledges there are “some positives to Trex’s products,” but it also criticizes Trex as a “downcycler” for using the plastic in decking materials rather than putting it back into packaging. 

It also casts doubt on how much of the post-consumer plastic film dropped off in stores, a major collection source Trex has built up as its NexTrex program, makes it into Trex products due to contamination. Trex uses both post-consumer material and cleaner film from commercial sources like warehouses and back-of-house retail locations.

The report indicates it’s unclear what happened to the 19 bundles that were tracked to store distribution centers or warehouses. “It is possible that the trackers died before the plastic was transferred from the distribution center to a recycler, landfill, Trex, or that the plastic could simply be sitting there with no place to go,” the authors wrote.

The sorting facilities that received four of the tracked bundles were K&S Recycling in Vancouver, Washington, which received two tracked loads from New Seasons grocery stores in Portland, Oregon; Independent Recycling Services of Chicago, which received a tracked load from Tony’s Fresh Market in Chicago; and Polyfit in Tecate, Mexico, a plastics reclaimer that received material from a Sprouts store in Culver City, California. 

The report’s authors contacted the two MRFs, which confirmed they didn’t accept plastic film – few U.S. MRFs do – and they couldn’t reach the reclaimer in Mexico.

More stories about research

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged , |