Resin sales for plastic bottle production grew to nearly 9.9 billion pounds in 2018. | Wachiwit/Shutterstock
More plastic bottles were recycled in 2018 than the prior year. But because of an overall bottle production increase, the recycling rate fell.
In April, the Chinese government will enact new requirements for pellet imports. | Piyathep/Shutterstock
Officials in Beijing are set to enact new requirements around the purity of recycled pellets imported into China.
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In October, India’s imports of U.S. scrap plastics dropped to their lowest single-month volume since at least 2002. | November Studio/Shutterstock
Export figures continue to show the power of recycled plastic import restrictions in Southeast Asia. Countries that were previously the largest overseas markets have seen massive decreases in U.S. plastic imports since mid-2018.
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.
An ISRI commissioned study found that the U.S. recycling industry directly or indirectly supports nearly 532,000 jobs. | priscilla list/Shutterstock
A recently released study estimates the U.S. recycling industry will have a nearly $110 billion economic impact this year. That’s about 6% lower than the number from two years ago.
In May, the New York Federal Reserve Bank estimated tariffs in effect at that time would cost the average U.S. household $831 a year. | aijiro/Shutterstock
The escalating trade war between the U.S. and China is creating uncertainty among small businesses and exacerbating a global manufacturing slowdown, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Less plastic was recycled in Canada in 2017 compared with the previous year. Frank Middendorf/Shutterstock
Canada recycled less plastic in 2017 than it did the year before, with decreases in recovery of films, non-bottle rigids and bottles, according to an annual industry report.
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.