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.
Recycled film consumer Trex saw its net income climb by more than 40 percent last year, boosted by ample availability of scrap PE.
A statewide campaign will seek to increase plastic film recovery throughout Florida.
Flexible packaging isn’t going away anytime soon, and an upcoming pilot project seeks to ensure it doesn’t go to landfill.
Trex, a major consumer of recovered PE film, continued to report record revenues and profits in the third quarter.