An AI-powered recycling system at the Rochester Institute of Technology can identify non-recyclable components of clothing and can detect the fiber composition of the whole item. | Kostikova Natalia/Shutterstock
Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology are developing a high-speed automated system to disassemble and recycle clothing. Continue Reading
Partners Novolex and Nova Chemicals are proactively working to increase feedstock supply for the new Indiana facility, which can process 140 million pounds a year of LLDPE film. | Antoinette Smith/Resource Recycling
Editor’s note: Learn more about accelerating film recycling and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland. Continue Reading
The Polystyrene Recycling Alliance includes members from both the PS and EPS industries, along with brands, converters and recyclers. | OlekStock/Shutterstock
In an effort to raise polystyrene recycling rates, the Plastics Industry Association has created a Polystyrene Recycling Alliance. Continue Reading
With the addition of EPS bans in California and Oregon, the entire West Coast now has some level of restriction on the material. | Kittiwat Chaitoep/Shutterstock
As of the first of the year, restrictions on EPS foodware items in California and Oregon are officially in effect. Continue Reading
At the 2024 Resource Recycling Conference, attendees discussed a range of hard-to-recycle materials, including textiles. | RecycleMan/Shutterstock
Policy, partnerships and planning are all crucial components of scaling up textile recycling, stakeholders said during a panel discussion at the 2024 Resource Recycling Conference. Continue Reading
The team from Cornell and Princeton universities leveraged the colorant carbon black and LED or sunlight to break down PS packaging to the molecular level. | NisanatStudio/Shutterstock
Although additives in plastics often are viewed as problematic, researchers at Cornell and Princeton universities have developed a technique to recycle plastics containing the colorant carbon black using sunlight. Continue Reading
HydroBlox creates permeable blocks and slabs of 100% PCR that act as drainage and channel water away from roads, parking lots, yards and other areas. | Photo Courtesy The Recycling Partnership
Bolstering end markets for hard-to-recycle materials is a slow process, but The Recycling Partnership’s Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition recently released a case study highlighting a success story in HydroBlox.
Finland-based Specim offers a mid-wave infrared imaging that it says can provide more nuanced sorting of black plastics. | Courtesy of Specim
Black plastics are difficult to recycle due to their light-absorbing properties, which interfere with optical sensors at MRFs. But Finland-based Specim says it has a solution. Continue Reading
About 30,000 tons of biopharma single-use plastic is disposed of every year globally, representing a unique opportunity for closed-loop recycling, some in the industry say. | Elpisterra/Shutterstock
The medical and research fields hold great potential for closed-loop plastic recycling as long as logistics can be solved, some in the industry recently said – and several companies are working to do just that. Continue Reading
The law covers a wide range of clothing but excludes carpet and mattresses, which are covered by other EPR programs in California. | Natali-Ximich/Shutterstock
California has become the first state to approve extended producer responsibility for textiles, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation enacting the program.