TotalEnergies, a global petroleum and energy company, is converting scrap plastic into new polymers in Texas | StanislauV/Shutterstock
A TotalEnergies plant in La Porte, Texas, has begun converting plastic into polypropylene polymers via chemical recycling, the global petroleum and energy company announced late last month. Continue Reading
Birch Plastics can produce about 800,000 pounds of FDA-approved natural PP per month. | StanislauV/Shutterstock
Texas-based Birch Plastics recently received a letter of no objection from the U.S. FDA for a line of recycled PP that can be used in all food and cosmetic applications. Continue Reading
A bale of natural HDPE. | Jared Paben/Plastics Recycling Update
Envision Plastics has completed its project to boost its capacity to produce EcoPrime, the reclaimer’s food-grade, post-consumer resin. Continue Reading
Terrapure Plastics Recycling Manager Martin Fournier shows visitors plastic chips from crushed batteries as they enter the recycling process. | Courtesy of Terrapure
Canadian company Terrapure Environmental brought a plastics recycling system on-line at its existing battery recycling plant in Quebec. Continue Reading
St. Joseph Plastics’ grinding facility in St. Joseph, Mo. | Courtesy of St. Joseph Plastics
Two plastics reclaimers have merged to form one company with nine facilities and about 300 employees across the Midwest and South. Continue Reading
Researchers in Japan found microplastics in clouds at the summit of Mount Fuji and other nearby mountains. | Martinho Smart/Shutterstock
One academic study from Iowa explored using residential PP scrap at different levels in new food bottles, and another in Japan discovered nine different polymer types as microplastics in clouds. Continue Reading
A wet grinder in Plastic Recycling Inc.’s new PP line in Indianapolis. | Courtesy of PRI
Plastic Recycling Inc. is now processing post-consumer curbside PP, with an eye toward obtaining an FDA food-contact letter in the near future. Continue Reading
The research team hopes that a better accounting of PP moving through materials recovery facilities will help build a circular economy for the material. | Pixel B/Shutterstock
Closed Loop Partners, NextGen Consortium and AI developer Greyparrot plan to study the composition of polypropylene in recycling streams using artificial intelligence. Continue Reading
Vitacore Industries is among a handful of companies that will receive money from the Canadian government to scale up their technology. | Faizzamal/Shutterstock
Vitacore Industries, a personal protective equipment manufacturer, received 4.18 million Canadian dollars (about $3.17 million) to develop a facility to recycle discarded PPE into building materials. Continue Reading
LyondellBasell aims to produce and sell 2 million metric tons annually of Circulen, its brand of recycled-content plastics, by 2023. | JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock
Polyolefins producing giant LyondellBasell has purchased a 50% stake in a Dutch plastics reclaimer that specializes in producing HDPE and PP flakes. Continue Reading