EFS is focused on materials that have traditionally been exported to overseas markets.
Mixed plastic bales have become increasingly difficult to move through the recycling system as overseas markets have diminished, leading some local programs to stop collecting plastics Nos. 3-7 altogether.
Avangard Innovative CEO Rick Perez recently shared details on the company’s upcoming expansion. | Anthony Rathbun
Reclaimer Avangard Innovative will grow exponentially in 2020, opening three processing sites to recover and pelletize plastic film.
Before its closure, Revolve Recycling was working to increase its ability to process mixed plastics. | Setthayos Sansuwansri/Shutterstock
A Utah recycling company that was increasing its ability to sort and sell mixed plastics has closed.
CarbonLite and Verdeco implied there was friction between the companies and the trade group around recent California legislation. | Looka/Shutterstock
PET-focused CarbonLite Industries and Verdeco Recycling recently exited the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), saying the group has “not embraced fundamental changes in our industry.”
The city of Boise rolled out the EnergyBag program in 2018. | Aleksandr Grechanyuk/Shutterstock
The Hefty EnergyBag program is collecting but not currently processing hard-to-recycle plastics in Boise, Idaho. The program’s downstream processor suspended EnergyBag processing earlier this year to install new equipment.
Packaging company HLP Klearfold released a 100% RPET folding carton. | Courtesy of HLP Klearfold
A handful of manufacturers have made investments that will improve their consumption of recovered plastics. Continue Reading
CarbonLite’s Reading, Pa. plant will produce recycled PET for use in water bottles, thermoforms and other products. | Rendering courtesy of CarbonLite
PET processor CarbonLite is nearing the opening of its third facility, which will produce 85 million pounds of post-consumer resin per year. Continue Reading
PreZero Polymers’ Jurupa Valley, Calif. campus, which is set to open early next year, will process post-consumer film. | Image courtesy of PreZero US
A joint venture is set to launch two U.S. processing plants for hard-to-recycle plastics in 2020, bringing new outlets for lower-grade materials. Investments in the projects will total at least $90 million. Continue Reading
The graph below shows the downstream trends for four major plastic resins collected for recycling in the U.S. and Canada going back to 2009 (the graph stops at 2017 because that is the most recent year for which figures are available).
From 2009 to 2016, the total amount of post-consumer plastic exported to overseas markets from the U.S. and Canada stayed relatively stable, but that number dropped considerably in 2017. That fact is hardly surprising: China stated in 2017 that it was planning to implement its import ban on many grades of recovered material at the outset of 2018, and the announcement itself caused major market shifts.
On the domestic processing front, the total amount climbed steadily before plateauing between 2016 and 2017. With more material needing a home as many Asian markets enact restrictions, opportunity exists for continued domestic processing growth. The keys will be infrastructure improvements to deliver cleaner loads to reclaimers and greater end market demand for the recycled resins.
Data Sort is produced each quarter by More Recycling. For additional information, go to morerecycling.com.
This story originally appeared in the Summer 2019 issue of Plastics Recycling Update. Subscribe today for access to all print content.
