Phoenix Technologies was one of a handful of U.S. reclaimers to be acquired by virgin plastics companies in 2019. | Leonid Sorokin/Shutterstock
Since virgin plastics company Far Eastern New Century acquired Phoenix Technologies last June, the U.S. PET reclaimer has lost substantial amounts of money.
The NAPCOR report shows over 1.8 billion pounds of PET bottles were collected in the U.S. for recycling in 2018. | pook jun/Shutterstock
More PET bottles were collected for recycling last year, but the overall recycling rate remains stagnant, according to an industry report.
Indorama has stated it will invest more than $1 billion in recycling over the next five years. | RecycleMan/Shutterstock
Indorama Ventures, the world’s biggest prime PET producer, has acquired another U.S. plastics recycling company, this time on the West Coast.
Post-consumer plastic makes up about 0.5% of Indorama’s resin offerings. | Joyce Blessthink/Shutterstock
Virgin resin producers Borealis and Indorama have made ambitious recycled plastic commitments, but post-consumer plastic still makes up a tiny fraction of what they sell.
A number of technologies were recently approved for recycling plastic for use in food and drink packaging. | monticello/Shutterstock
A panel determined that recycling technologies from Bandera, Erema, Poly Recycling and Starlinger produce RPET that’s safe for use in food and drink packaging.
John Standish of APR (right) presented Scott Giffels of American Fuji Seal with a letter confirming the recyclability of the RecShrink label. | Photo courtesy of APR
The Association of Plastic Recyclers confirmed that a crystallizable shrink sleeve label with washable ink meets the group’s criteria for recyclability in the PET bottle stream. Continue Reading
ABA President and CEO Katherine Lugar presented a major recycling funding initiative alongside leaders from beverage companies. | Photo credit: YouTube
Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo have pledged to put their money behind boosting processing technology and increasing curbside collection access. They’ll also introduce a uniform recycling message on their bottles next year.
KHS unveiled a 100% RPET bottle with a barrier layer for protecting juices. | Courtesy of KHS
A packaging equipment manufacturer has announced a 100% RPET bottle with an extremely thin layer of silica to serve as a gas barrier. Continue Reading
Three U.S. manufacturers that use large amounts of recovered PET, PE film and HDPE recently reported their quarterly financial results. | Freedomz/Shutterstock
Unifi, Trex and Greystone Logistics, U.S. manufacturers that use large amounts of recycled plastic, recently released their quarterly results. Unifi and Trex reported income growth. Continue Reading
Green Impact Plastics will build a PET thermoform processing facility in California after reclaimer rPlanet Earth agreed to buy its output. | Courtesy of Green Impact Plastics
A Mexican company that developed a system to process post-consumer PET thermoforms will open a $7 million plant in the Los Angeles area. It’s now on the hunt for thermoform bales. Continue Reading