Researchers have developed a way to turn mixed polymer plastics into a single chemical product, which could potentially eliminate the need to sort plastic by type prior to recycling.
Researchers have developed a way to turn mixed polymer plastics into a single chemical product, which could potentially eliminate the need to sort plastic by type prior to recycling.
Ten companies with technologies to recycle post-consumer PET, HDPE and PP into food and drink packaging have received the federal government’s thumbs-up this year.
Greystone Logistics is installing shredding and pelletizing equipment so it can purchase more lower-cost scrap polyethylene, as opposed to recycled resin. And Unifi is opportunistically buying PET bottle bales while it works to pass feedstock cost increases on to buyers of its recycled polyester.
The Association of Plastic Recyclers released a report noting 21% of HDPE, PET and PP packaging is recycled in the U.S.
A food-safety panel has approved applications from Indorama Ventures, Veolia, Coca-Cola Hellenic, NOVAPET and other plastic reclaimers to recycle PET in new food and drink packaging.
Texas-based Birch Plastics recently worked with a third-party auditor to verify its recycling process, a step more reclaimers and compounders are considering as end users look for certainty in their feedstock.
Advanced Drainage Systems, now the largest plastics reclaimer in North America, increased its product sales by nearly 40% last year.
Recycled-plastic decking manufacturers are responding to strong markets for their products by expanding production capacity, including UFP buying reclaimer Cedar Poly and Fiberon breaking ground on a facility in Tennessee.
Brand owners and other private and public entities are investing millions of dollars into a plastic reclaimer’s project to build a 170,000-square-foot film recycling facility in the Upper Midwest.
Pratt Industries may be primarily focused on recycling fiber into cardboard boxes, but with higher scrap plastics prices, the company also saw a business opportunity in boosting PET and HDPE bottle sorting.