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.
The price of PET took a dive over the past month, but the value of natural HDPE climbed substantially. Continue Reading
PET and HDPE bales are fetching lower prices than they were a month ago, but PP and high-grade film have shown stability.
Trex uses millions of pounds of PE film annually. | artgray/Shutterstock
Already North America’s largest consumer of recovered film, Trex plans to use considerably more in the future, according to the company’s CEO.
2017 brought the lowest volume of film recovered and sold since 2010. | taniascamera/Shutterstock
Non-bottle mixed plastics and film recycling have experienced their first major drops in a decade, two studies indicate. But amid the challenges, domestic use of both streams increased.
This story has been updated.
A consumer of recovered PE film will spend about $200 million in the next couple of years to boost its production capacities.
Equipment from Dutch company Bollegraaf Recycling Solutions goes fishing at the head of the stream to remove films.
Governments, MRF operators, reclaimers and end users are calling for government regulation that requires recycled content in plastic bags.
Retailers supplied composite lumber manufacturer Trex with more than 130 million pounds of recovered film last year. Meanwhile, production issues reduced company profits in the first quarter.
Consumer packaging company Berry Global will increase its presence in the plastics recycling sector by acquiring a European reclaimer.