Researchers estimate over 74 billion PET bottles were landfilled, burned or littered in the U.S. in 2019. | Teerasak Ladnongkhun / Shutterstock
This story has been updated and corrected.
A new report estimates that a nationwide bottle deposit program would reduce the number of drink containers each American wastes to 67 per year, down from 426 under the status quo.
At the recent ISRI2021 online conference, an EPA official touched on environmental justice issues that affect waste and recycling facilities. | Surapol USanakul / Shutterstock
The U.S. EPA’s top environmental justice official has a message for recycling operators: Don’t wait for a conflict to arise to start engaging with the community that surrounds you.
A cosmetic tube technology was approved by APR for its compatibility with recycling processes. | nikitabuida / Shutterstock
HDPE tubes, PET aerosol containers and PP thermoforms were among the packaging innovations that received recyclability recognition from the Association of Plastic Recyclers recently.
Michigan awarded nearly $5 million in grants to support recycling throughout the state. | RHIMAGE / Shutterstock
Public and private partners will spend millions of dollars to improve the recycling system in Michigan as part of a newly announced initiative.
Leaders outlined the challenges and opportunities of recycled content mandates at a recent conference. | zombiemaster/Shutterstock
Policymakers and brand owners have recently emphasized boosting recycled content in plastic packaging to try to enhance recycling. At a conference this week, speakers outlined some of the challenges in this realm.
Speakers in a session last week came from two often-opposing sides of the packaging and recycling debate: Craig Cookson of ACC and Kate Bailey from Eco-Cycle. | Screenshot from the 2021 Plastics Recycling Conference.
Last week’s Plastics Recycling Conference, held online, featured eight sessions over two days. Here are some of the talking points that caught our team’s attention.
NERC’s Next Generation Scholarship Fund is just one of multiple conversations the group is having on the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion. | Lightspring/Shutterstock
Leaders at the Northeast Recycling Council recently explained how they’ll use a new scholarship fund to help boost racial diversity in the next generation of recycling industry professionals.
Plastics recycling stakeholders will gather online this week for insight and networking. | DC Studio/Shutterstock
Hundreds of plastics recycling and sustainability professionals are taking part in this week’s virtual Plastics Recycling Conference, which is offering discussions on policy, markets and more at a time of sector uncertainty.
The U.S. EPA is considering changing the calculation methodology for determining the nation’s recycling rate. | Rokas Tenys/Shutterstock
If a process breaks down scrap plastics into chemicals that are later used to make new plastic, should the federal government consider that “recycling?” What if the end product is a fuel that is combusted?
One million dollars in grants will go to pay for PP sorting equipment and efforts to communicate to households that PP is accepted in their curbside programs. | Courtesy of KW Plastics.
Materials recovery facilities in Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas will receive financial support to enable PP recovery.