The $349 billion in initial funding for the Paycheck Protection Program ran out within two weeks. | NIKCOA/Shutterstock
Reclaimers and other processors across the country are looking to a federal assistance program to help them overcome cash-flow problems sparked by the coronavirus. Some have been successful, but others are running into banking complexities and tapped-out funding.
MRF executives have noted staffing and procedural changes to deal with the coronavirus.
As the coronavirus continues to spread, recycling facilities are increasing distance between employees, sanitizing common areas and, in at least one case, halting the practice of punching in and out on a time clock.
Tomra Sorting developed Sharp Eye because the percentage of thermoforms in PET bottle bales has been increasing. | Courtesy of Tomra.
PET thermoforms bring special baggage to the recycling process: Optical sorters often fail to differentiate them from bottles, and thermoform flakes are more prone to breaking into fines.
Direct Pack has acquired a Mexico-headquartered recycling operation with capacity to process 40 million pounds per year of PET. | Courtesy of Direct Pack.
U.S. plastic thermoform manufacturer Direct Pack Inc. has acquired a PET reclaimer and is now processing recovered thermoforms at a Mexico site.
The federal government and states that have issued “stay-at-home” orders have decided recycling businesses are “essential.” | youkatan/Shutterstock
In the states that have issued stay-at-home orders, companies engaged in recycling processing or plastic product manufacturing are not subject to forced shutdowns.
Kal-Polymers installed a customized line at its 110,000-square-foot Flowery Branch, Ga. plant. | Courtesy of Kal-Polymers
Kal-Polymers is spending up to $4 million to install an integrated processing line, which is boosting PP recycling capacity and allowing the firm to handle higher levels of contamination.
CarbonLite’s upcoming Florida facility will source 100 million or more pounds of post-consumer PET from the surrounding region. | Nixx Photography/Shutterstock
A PET bottle reclaimer will construct an $80 million plant in Florida. The project is in its early stages.
Indorama said the acquisition of Green Fiber International extends the company’s recycled flake supply chain to the West Coast. | fizkes/Shutterstock
Global PET producer Indorama Ventures paid nearly $25 million for California PET reclaimer Green Fiber International, new financial disclosures show.
The new equipment will allow Denton Plastics to take in contaminated source-separated plastics that are too dirty for the company to process today, such as material from plant nurseries. | Zoran Milosavljevic/Shutterstock
Oregon-based Denton Plastics will add equipment allowing the company to process contaminated source-separated plastics.
The new NERC report includes 15 new and 10 expanding facilities processing recycled plastics in North America. | Warut Chinsai/Shutterstock
The North American plastics recycling sector is poised to add over 1 billion pounds of annual capacity, according to a group charting processing growth.