Metaspectral was awarded a six-month contract from Environment Climate Change Canada for film sortation. | Mabeline72/Shutterstock
Canadian remote sensing software company Metaspectral received government funding to develop equipment to sort plastic film.
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The Association of Plastic Recyclers met following last week’s Plastics Recycling Conference. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference brought 2,500 attendees together for sessions and a sold-out exhibit hall of more than 240 booths. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference kicked off Monday in Grapevine, Texas, bringing energetic conversations around policy, investments and designing for recyclability. Continue Reading
A new study placed Apple AirTag and Android Tile tracking devices in 93 bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging and tracked where the material ended up. | Oasisamuel/Shutterstock
An investigation that placed tracking devices in bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging and dropped them off in store collection receptacles around the U.S. found a “failing” drop-off collection system, its authors said. Amazon said it can’t control how material is handled once it enters the recycling system.
The Amazon-focused report, released March 19 and authored by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Environment America, is titled “Truth in Recycling: Does Amazon’s plastic packaging actually get recycled?”
Although it takes aim at Amazon’s plastic packaging materials, the U.S. PIRG report is more of an indictment of the plastic film drop-off system in the U.S. It comes on the heels of a similar investigation by ABC News last year, and it comes shortly after the leading directory listing drop-off locations for plastic materials was taken down last year due to funding and concerns about its accuracy.
In the latest report, the authors placed Apple AirTag and Android Tile tracking devices in 93 bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging, including bags and air pillows, and placed them in store drop-off collection locations. Then they tracked where the material ended up.
Of the 93 tracked bundles, 24 ended up at major PE recycling company Trex, 19 went to store distribution centers, 13 ended up in landfills, 13 never left the store they were dropped off at, eight went to transfer stations or “near multiple disposal sites,” four went to MRFs or other sorting facilities, four died in transit, three made it to a port, two went to an incinerator, and one each went to a composting facility, auto dealer and small freight firm.
“The store drop-off system for recycling plastic film is failing,” the authors wrote, adding it provides evidence contradicting Amazon’s claims about packaging recyclability.
“No matter how much Amazon and others say its packaging is ‘recyclable,’ the truth is that plastic never has been widely recycled and likely never will be,” the report states. “The better approach to plastic packaging is to stop producing and using it.”
In a statement to Plastics Recycling Update, Pat Lindner, Amazon’s vice president of sustainable packaging, pointed to the company’s work with The Recycling Partnership and other projects to improve recycling infrastructure.
“Amazon is continuously reducing packaging waste and working to make recycling easier for customers, however, we do not have control over how packaging is handled once it has been disposed of by municipalities or recycling centers,” Lindner said.
Although the largest portion ended up at Trex, the report considers material that ended up at Trex in the same category as material that was landfilled or incinerated. The report acknowledges there are “some positives to Trex’s products,” but it also criticizes Trex as a “downcycler” for using the plastic in decking materials rather than putting it back into packaging.
It also casts doubt on how much of the post-consumer plastic film dropped off in stores, a major collection source Trex has built up as its NexTrex program, makes it into Trex products due to contamination. Trex uses both post-consumer material and cleaner film from commercial sources like warehouses and back-of-house retail locations.
The report indicates it’s unclear what happened to the 19 bundles that were tracked to store distribution centers or warehouses. “It is possible that the trackers died before the plastic was transferred from the distribution center to a recycler, landfill, Trex, or that the plastic could simply be sitting there with no place to go,” the authors wrote.
The sorting facilities that received four of the tracked bundles were K&S Recycling in Vancouver, Washington, which received two tracked loads from New Seasons grocery stores in Portland, Oregon; Independent Recycling Services of Chicago, which received a tracked load from Tony’s Fresh Market in Chicago; and Polyfit in Tecate, Mexico, a plastics reclaimer that received material from a Sprouts store in Culver City, California.
The report’s authors contacted the two MRFs, which confirmed they didn’t accept plastic film – few U.S. MRFs do – and they couldn’t reach the reclaimer in Mexico.
Metaspectral was awarded a six-month contract from Environment Climate Change Canada for film sortation. | Mabeline72/Shutterstock
Canadian remote sensing software company Metaspectral received government funding to develop equipment to sort plastic film.
Continue Reading
The Association of Plastic Recyclers met following last week’s Plastics Recycling Conference. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference brought 2,500 attendees together for sessions and a sold-out exhibit hall of more than 240 booths. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
The 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference kicked off Monday in Grapevine, Texas, bringing energetic conversations around policy, investments and designing for recyclability. Continue Reading
A new study placed Apple AirTag and Android Tile tracking devices in 93 bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging and tracked where the material ended up. | Oasisamuel/Shutterstock
An investigation that placed tracking devices in bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging and dropped them off in store collection receptacles around the U.S. found a “failing” drop-off collection system, its authors said. Amazon said it can’t control how material is handled once it enters the recycling system.
The Amazon-focused report, released March 19 and authored by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Environment America, is titled “Truth in Recycling: Does Amazon’s plastic packaging actually get recycled?”
Although it takes aim at Amazon’s plastic packaging materials, the U.S. PIRG report is more of an indictment of the plastic film drop-off system in the U.S. It comes on the heels of a similar investigation by ABC News last year, and it comes shortly after the leading directory listing drop-off locations for plastic materials was taken down last year due to funding and concerns about its accuracy.
In the latest report, the authors placed Apple AirTag and Android Tile tracking devices in 93 bundles of Amazon’s plastic packaging, including bags and air pillows, and placed them in store drop-off collection locations. Then they tracked where the material ended up.
Of the 93 tracked bundles, 24 ended up at major PE recycling company Trex, 19 went to store distribution centers, 13 ended up in landfills, 13 never left the store they were dropped off at, eight went to transfer stations or “near multiple disposal sites,” four went to MRFs or other sorting facilities, four died in transit, three made it to a port, two went to an incinerator, and one each went to a composting facility, auto dealer and small freight firm.
“The store drop-off system for recycling plastic film is failing,” the authors wrote, adding it provides evidence contradicting Amazon’s claims about packaging recyclability.
“No matter how much Amazon and others say its packaging is ‘recyclable,’ the truth is that plastic never has been widely recycled and likely never will be,” the report states. “The better approach to plastic packaging is to stop producing and using it.”
In a statement to Plastics Recycling Update, Pat Lindner, Amazon’s vice president of sustainable packaging, pointed to the company’s work with The Recycling Partnership and other projects to improve recycling infrastructure.
“Amazon is continuously reducing packaging waste and working to make recycling easier for customers, however, we do not have control over how packaging is handled once it has been disposed of by municipalities or recycling centers,” Lindner said.
Although the largest portion ended up at Trex, the report considers material that ended up at Trex in the same category as material that was landfilled or incinerated. The report acknowledges there are “some positives to Trex’s products,” but it also criticizes Trex as a “downcycler” for using the plastic in decking materials rather than putting it back into packaging.
It also casts doubt on how much of the post-consumer plastic film dropped off in stores, a major collection source Trex has built up as its NexTrex program, makes it into Trex products due to contamination. Trex uses both post-consumer material and cleaner film from commercial sources like warehouses and back-of-house retail locations.
The report indicates it’s unclear what happened to the 19 bundles that were tracked to store distribution centers or warehouses. “It is possible that the trackers died before the plastic was transferred from the distribution center to a recycler, landfill, Trex, or that the plastic could simply be sitting there with no place to go,” the authors wrote.
The sorting facilities that received four of the tracked bundles were K&S Recycling in Vancouver, Washington, which received two tracked loads from New Seasons grocery stores in Portland, Oregon; Independent Recycling Services of Chicago, which received a tracked load from Tony’s Fresh Market in Chicago; and Polyfit in Tecate, Mexico, a plastics reclaimer that received material from a Sprouts store in Culver City, California.
The report’s authors contacted the two MRFs, which confirmed they didn’t accept plastic film – few U.S. MRFs do – and they couldn’t reach the reclaimer in Mexico.
Trex reported $1.1 billion in consolidated sales in 2023 and year-over-year residential sales increased by $35 million in 2023. | Vojtaz/Shutterstock
Trex, one of the largest polyethylene film recycling companies in the U.S., recorded higher sales in 2023, particularly towards the end of the year. Company leaders anticipate the sales growth will continue into 2024, translating to strong end market demand for recovered film. Continue Reading
Intertape Polymer Group released ExlFilmPlus PCR polyolefin shrink film, which contains at least 10% post-consumer resin and at least 25% post-industrial resin. | Courtesy of IPG
A Florida-headquartered global packaging company this month began selling a shrink film product made from 35% post-consumer resin and accepted in film drop-off collection programs. Continue Reading
The acquisition is an extension of Revolution’s work and vision, company CEO Sean Whiteley said. | Vojtaz/Shutterstock
U.S.-based Revolution Sustainable Solutions expanded its film recycling network with the acquisition of Canadian company PolyAg Recycling. Continue Reading
The U.S. FDA issued a favorable opinion to a second Circulus facility to produce food-contact LDPE. | Vikentiy Elizarov/Shutterstock
Fast-growing film reclaimer Circulus has received the U.S. FDA’s go-ahead to produce food-contact LDPE at a second facility, expanding the company’s ability to supply the flexible food packaging market. Continue Reading
A group of Canadian packaging stakeholders are exploring ways to optimize the recycling system for flexible plastics. | Patpitchaya
Results from the first phase of a study into Canada’s recycling system found that flexible materials account for 47% of the plastic packaging put on the Canadian market. Continue Reading
Myplas USA brought its 170,000-square-foot mechanical recycling and pelletizing facility in Minnesota on-line, creating an outlet for flexible film. | Joyce Blessthink/Shutterstock
Reclaimer Myplas USA brought its Minnesota processing facility on-line this month, bringing an annual 90 million pounds of flexible film recycling capacity to the area. Continue Reading