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.
The first report from The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition set a goal of increasing the U.S. PP recycling rate in the next two years. | Afanasiev Andrii/Shutterstock
The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition has given out $15 million in 60 grants, improving PP recycling access for 48 million people in 26 states, according to its first annual report. Continue Reading
Professors and students developed a process to turn both PE and PP into propylene monomer. | Afanasiev-Andrii/Shutterstock
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a chemical process to vaporize PE and PP into the feedstock monomer propylene.
Advanced Drainage Systems expects to spend $250 million to $301 million on capital expenditures this year. | Courtesy of ADS
Several plastics reclaimers and recycled resin end users recently shared details about their operations in earnings calls. From capital project spending at ADS to chemical recycling expansions at LyondellBasell, here’s a roundup of recycling operations news.
Although companies may be shifting to a broader carbon-footprint strategy, PCR production still needs to increase several times over, a recent RaboResearch report said | RecycleMan/Shutterstock
Brand owner targets for PCR content have helped drive demand for recycled plastics in the U.S. and Europe in recent years, but PCR production needs to increase as much as fivefold to meet those goals, according to a recent RaboResearch report. Continue Reading
ADS bought a third of the total color HDPE bales in North America in fiscal 2024, and recycled plastics accounted for 50% of the company’s resin purchases in that time period. | Photo courtesy of ADS
Advanced Drainage Systems has reported flat consumption of recycled plastics over the past few years, but in fiscal 2024 the company increased the share of recycled materials to 50% of its total resin purchases, according to its most recent ESG report.