As of Dec. 31, TerraCycle US has over 150 brand-sponsored national recycling programs in 48 states. | photo gonzo/Shutterstock
TerraCycle US continued to rake in more money from companies paying it to operate mail-in recycling programs, but it incurred steeper losses doing the actual recycling of plastic and other materials.
Plastics recycling is drawing mainstream media attention in the wake of recent data showing low and declining recycling rates in the U.S. | lary_bird/Shutterstock
A recent report on plastic recycling rates from The Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics has attracted the attention of several large news outlets and the mainstream public, but industry leaders said the data is misleading and counter-productive.
Broken down by scrap type, a study found that bottles, non-bottle rigid plastics and other plastics all saw declines individually in 2020. | TeuNg StyLe/Shutterstock
The U.S. is processing more of its scrap plastic domestically, but the overall weight of plastic recycled in 2020 dropped just under 6% from 2019, according to an annual industry report.
GreenLabs Recycling recently hit 100,000 pounds of plastic recycled since it began collecting material in 2019. | Courtesy of GreenLabs Recycling
More than 20 million plastic pipette tip boxes are shipped to the greater Boston area each year, and the vast majority are not recycled. GreenLabs Recycling is working to change that.
Seven facility operators across the U.S. will receive grant funds to boost PP sortation and collection. | CalypsoArt/Shutterstock
The Recycling Partnership has delivered financial assistance to seven more U.S. materials recovery facilities through its Polypropylene Recycling Coalition.
Cyclyx International’s 10 to 90 effort will include takeback programs, education, rewards and engagement tools to boost local plastics recycling rates. | Roman Zaiets/Shutterstock
A consortium that aims to source and prepare low-value scrap plastics for chemical recycling has launched a public outreach and incentive campaign.
The PET Recycling Coalition will launch in the next few months and will provide grants to MRFs and other facilities to increase the capture of PET beyond bottles. | Kwangmoozaa/Shutterstock
The Recycling Partnership will launch a PET Recycling Coalition to find solutions for common recycling challenges, a representative of the nonprofit group announced at last week’s Plastics Recycling Conference.
Container deposit systems have benefits for municipalities, but MRFs are likely to see revenues decline as valuable PET and aluminum are removed from their material stream. | Myibean/Shutterstock
Though container deposit systems typically help lift recovery rates for covered materials, the programs also usually reduce tonnages of high-quality PET and aluminum going to sorting facilities. A new study helps to quantify those potential impacts.
EFS-plastics will open a second facility to expand recycling capacity while keeping the company’s carbon footprint as low as possible. | Courtesy of EFS-plastics
Driven by demand for polypropylene and polyethylene, plastics recycler EFS-plastics is opening a processing site in Lethbridge, Alberta.
Ocean Legacy performs its own cleanup efforts and also serves as a collection hub for all shoreline cleanups in British Columbia. | Courtesy of Ocean Legacy
Canadian company Ocean Legacy is working to expand production of its 100% recycled ocean pellet and is eyeing U.S. markets.