As brand owners face the realities of their 2025 voluntary sustainability targets, report author Jim Owen of RaboResearch predicts that recycled-content goals will become more pragmatic and lean more heavily on legislation. | Photka/Shutterstock
A new report from RaboResearch explores the factors behind brand owners’ retreat from 2025 packaging recycled content goals – and provides a look at the path ahead. Continue Reading
An AI-powered recycling system at the Rochester Institute of Technology can identify non-recyclable components of clothing and can detect the fiber composition of the whole item. | Kostikova Natalia/Shutterstock
Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology are developing a high-speed automated system to disassemble and recycle clothing. Continue Reading
Scientists from nine universities worked together on a paper, focused on the need to reduce plastic production. | Poring Studio/Shutterstock
Scientists from universities in several countries released a paper that concluded production cuts must be part of the legally binding treaty to manage global plastic pollution if it’s to achieve its goals. Continue Reading
A California initiative and a nationwide study examine the accessibility of film recycling programs, and a Canadian city begins collection. | Dmitry Markov152/Shutterstock
Most Americans have access to a store drop-off site for film plastics, according to a new study by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Continue Reading
Researchers with Google X’s Moonshot Factory are working with product designers to recycle plastics currently considered unrecyclable. | Artgray/Shutterstock
Google X and Dow Chemical are collaborating to develop an artificial intelligence sorting system capable of identifying film plastics and mixed materials, they announced at a conference in April.
Panelists at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference spoke about the current landscape for food-grade PP recycling, where it came from and what’s needed to improve recycling rates. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling, Inc.
The technology for sorting and recycling PP back into food-grade packaging already exists, and with more value chain alignment, it is poised to take off at scale, those involved at all levels of the process said during a session at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference. Continue Reading
Billions of small-format plastic items are produced each year but are lost to landfills or incinerators across the board. | Golden Shrimp/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: Learn more about plastic recycling trends and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland. Continue Reading
Two university teams developed processes using electromagnetic waves and engineered wastewater bacteria to address plastic pollution. | Poring Studio/Shutterstock
University researchers have come up with two new methods to break down plastic waste – one for reuse and the other to rid wastewater of microplastics. Continue Reading
The team from Cornell and Princeton universities leveraged the colorant carbon black and LED or sunlight to break down PS packaging to the molecular level. | NisanatStudio/Shutterstock
Although additives in plastics often are viewed as problematic, researchers at Cornell and Princeton universities have developed a technique to recycle plastics containing the colorant carbon black using sunlight. Continue Reading
The study found flame retardants in some black plastic kitchen utensils that contained recycled resin. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling
A recent study has focused public attention on household products containing plastic that the authors suggest was recovered from electronics, raising safety concerns about chemicals contained within the recycled content.