Fourteen companies got the go-ahead to use post-consumer resins in various food-contact applications. | Ladnongkhun/Shutterstock
Merlin Plastics, Natura PCR, Circulus, Far Eastern New Century and other prominent plastics reclaimers have received FDA letters allowing them to recycle post-consumer plastics into food and drink packaging.
SB 353 aims to protect recycling companies from severe market fluctuations, which have been a factor in many closures. | Susanne Pommer/Shutterstock
A newly introduced bill in the California Senate would adjust how state regulators calculate the amount of money paid to bottle and can recycling businesses, helping those companies avoid steep financial losses when scrap values plummet.
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The commission voted 4-0 to publish a notice in the Federal Register to begin a 60-day public comment period. That notice is expected to be published in mid-January of 2023. | DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock
Companies making deceptive sustainability claims distort the market for environmentally friendly products and “hurt honest companies who are bearing the costs of green business practices,” the chair of the FTC said this week.
More than 130 California cities now have PS bans, including San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. | Justinboat.29/Shutterstock
Los Angeles banned expanded polystyrene after a unanimous Dec. 6 vote by the 12 city council members present, following the lead of other California cities.
The meeting was the first to work on drafting the text of the Global Plastics Treaty, which is intended to be a legally binding document addressing plastic pollution across the value chain. | Courtesy of UNEP
Mixed reactions followed the first meeting on a Global Plastics Treaty, with some complaints about “industry interference.”
The new act is built on the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which was introduced in the last two Congressional sessions but failed to move forward. | Rob Crandall/Shutterstock
A newly introduced bill in Congress is reviving parts of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, with a focus on environmental justice.
The European Commission is expected to announce the revisions of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive the week of Nov. 28. | VanderWolf Images/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
Online delivery packaging, takeaway cups and plastic drink bottles could see new targets for reuse and recycled content under proposals from the European Commission.
Although the majority of companies continued to decrease virgin plastic use, collective use of plastic packaging increased by 4.3% from 2020 to 2021. | Zety Akhzar/Shutterstock
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s latest report showed that major packaging companies doubled their collective PCR percentage from 2018 to 2021. However, pandemic-related commerce trends also helped accelerate virgin plastic consumption.
California’s plastic quality incentive payment (QIP) program offers $180 per ton for clean PET bales. | MarieKaz/Shutterstock
California last year started a unique program of providing cash payments to materials recovery facilities that produce ultra-clean PET bottle bales. Recently released data suggest the payments aren’t juicy enough morsels.
Legislators recently spoke about their challenges and successes with EPR legislation. | Banlai/Shutterstock
Four state-level elected officials who have worked on extended producer responsibility bills for packaging recently discussed how they became champions of recycling policy and offered tips to help advance legislation.