Investigators placed GPS tracking devices in bales of plastic. | PhilipR/Shutterstock
CBC News in Canada used tracking devices to follow where garbage and recycling companies took loads of recovered film. Much of the plastic was ultimately burned or buried.
Proposed legislation would include measures to reduce plastic pollution and remove certain single-use products from use. | LLoughran/Shutterstock
Lawmakers are bringing plastics recycling to the federal level with a legislative proposal that includes a national bottle bill and extended producer responsibility.
Experts say a deposit system for non-alcoholic beverage containers would complement a Canadian province’s curbside recycling system, by cutting costs and increasing the volume of material recycled each year.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government will ban a number of single-use plastic products and will support establishing extended producer responsibility for plastic items.
The Washington state capitol building in Olympia.
Washington will explore plastic packaging product stewardship, industry-led efforts and other plastic waste management strategies, under legislation signed by the state’s governor this week.
Regulators have given final approval to a carpet stewardship roadmap in California, marking a milestone in an ongoing, years-long dispute with the carpet industry.
The Washington state capitol building in Olympia.
Lawmakers in Indiana and Washington are evaluating proposals that would shift end-of-life packaging management responsibilities from municipalities to product producers.
California officials will slow their process of crafting mandatory recycling rules for plastic packaging, citing upheavals caused by China’s import restrictions.
Extended producer responsibility rose to the forefront of debate in Connecticut as a strategy to reduce packaging waste in line with state mandates. A committee tasked with advising lawmakers during the coming legislative session recently split on the strategy, but the majority advised against it.
