With its latest sustainability report, Walmart became the latest mega-brand to announce it was unlikely to meet its voluntary commitments for plastics. | Harun Ozmen/Shutterstock
With the arrival of the benchmark year of 2025, two industry giants announced challenges and progress in meeting the ambitious plastics-related goals set for this year. Continue Reading
Panelists at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference spoke about the current landscape for food-grade PP recycling, where it came from and what’s needed to improve recycling rates. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling, Inc.
The technology for sorting and recycling PP back into food-grade packaging already exists, and with more value chain alignment, it is poised to take off at scale, those involved at all levels of the process said during a session at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference. Continue Reading
Polypropylene bale pricing has risen to levels not seen since August 2022, largely attributed to increasing demand for use in food-contact packaging. | Retan/Shutterstock
Post-consumer PP bale pricing has continued to rise in March, reflecting trends in recycled content adoption and potentially encouraging MRFs to sort for the polymer. Continue Reading
The recycled-content plastic plywood material is billed as a stronger, waterproof option to replace traditional plywood. | Photo courtesy of Supersede
Phoenix, Arizona-based Supersede started up last fall with a goal to use recycled plastic to create a plywood-alternative board specifically for marine use. The company has started with post-industrial PP as a feedstock and is experimenting with post-consumer resin as it gears up for an expansion. Continue Reading
The company’s flagship plant in Ironton, Ohio, is experiencing fewer and less serious issues, amid rapidly growing interest in the chemically recycled resin. | XXL Photo/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Learn more about food-grade recycled PP and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Both buyers and sellers quoted prices as high as 17 cents per pound in mid-February, citing capacity additions and competition with virgin resin for the runup. | CalypsoArt/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Learn more about food-grade recycled PP and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland. Continue Reading
Single-use PP beverage pods, such as those used for coffee and tea, may no longer qualify for the “check locally” label, according to the latest data. | Primestock Photography / Shutterstock
The How2Recycle labeling initiative is considering downgrading four types of plastic packaging in response to recent acceptance data, according to its latest guidance for recyclability designations. Continue Reading
The target audience for the short courses is those in plastics recycling and manufacturing, as well as early-career ocean professionals. | Wonderful Nature/Shutterstock
Hawaii Pacific University is offering plastics- and recycling-related short courses over the summer that are aimed at plastics professionals. Continue Reading
The PureCycle facility in Denver, Pennsylvania is primarily sourcing PP bales from MRFs across the Northeast. | Ulrich Mueller/Shutterstock
Polypropylene recycling firm PureCycle has started up a feedstock preparation plant in Pennsylvania, bringing in plastic bales from MRFs and extracting the PP for processing at the company’s main Ohio facility. Continue Reading
Amy Uong, second from right, speaks during ‘Saying Yes in the Land of No,’ a session held during the Resource Recycling Conference in Kentucky last month. | Dan Holtmeyer/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Faced with challenges moving recycled materials in recent years, MRFs and curbside recycling programs have occasionally opted to stop accepting certain materials, particularly experimental or harder-to-market packaging types.