7-Eleven faces a lawsuit challenging recyclability claims on the company’s “24/7” brand foam plates, cups and freezer bags. | Sorbis/Shuttertstock
Brand owners can label plastic products as recyclable even if local residential recycling programs don’t want them, because reasonable consumers wouldn’t assume the word “recyclable” means there are local facilities that accept the material, a federal judge decided.
PureCycle met community resistance to the company’s site near Winter Garden, Fla. | Noah Densmore/Shutterstock
Americans are united in their desire for better plastic recycling, but the question of where to locate facilities is running into familiar not-in-my-backyard resistance, complicated further by concerns about racial and social justice.
Novolex’s new mechanical recycling equipment will produce up to 28 million pounds of recycled content per year. | Courtesy of Novolex
Novolex is investing $10 million at its North Vernon, Ind. facility to increase its recycling capacity for plastic bags and other PE film.
TOP LUN Plastics Corporation received an LNO that covers the recycling of PET containers into single-layer clamshells. | Rattanapon Ninlapoom/Shutterstock
Ten companies with technologies to recycle post-consumer PET, HDPE and PP into food and drink packaging have received the federal government’s thumbs-up this year.
Research from the Association of Plastic Recyclers shows a 28% recycling rate for PET and HDPE bottles in 2020. | Frank Fiedler/Shutterstock
The Association of Plastic Recyclers released a report noting 21% of HDPE, PET and PP packaging is recycled in the U.S.
Polypropylene rigid containers have been upgraded to “widely recycled” under the How2Recycle labeling protocol. | Colleen Michaels/Shutterstock
Two years after downgrading rigid polypropylene containers to “check locally,” a label system has returned the material to its previous status, determining at least 60% of the country has access to PP collection.
Nexus is planning a facility near Chicago, and Braskem pledged to purchase the output. | Courtesy of Nexus Circular
Nexus Circular plans to build a pyrolysis plant in the Chicago area, and polyolefins producer Braskem has signed an agreement to buy the facility’s output. Continue Reading
Connecticut students collected nearly 4 tons of bottle caps for recycling through a collaborative effort. | Courtesy of SoundWaters
Connecticut middle school students, with help from processor UltraPoly and other entities, recently collected 2.5 million plastic caps and recycled them into end products as part of a lesson on microplastics.
Keurig Dr Pepper’s recent sustainability report noted progress toward the company’s goal of 25% PCR use by 2025. | Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
One of North America’s largest beverage brand owners greatly increased its use of recycled resins last year, mainly by rolling out 100% RPET bottles for specific brands.
A Fresno, California MRF leveraged grant funding to install robotic sortation equipment to recover more PP. | Courtesy of AMP Robotics
With a little help from The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, a Fresno-based MRF has entered the world of robotics.