The research firm McKinsey & Co. identified a number of challenges and opportunities to increasing plastics recovery in the U.S. | Uroš Medved/Shutterstock
As opposed to reducing and reusing, recycling has the greatest potential to cut down on plastic waste, according to McKinsey & Co. But processing solutions don’t lie solely with mechanical recycling.
Resin sales for plastic bottle production grew to nearly 9.9 billion pounds in 2018. | Wachiwit/Shutterstock
More plastic bottles were recycled in 2018 than the prior year. But because of an overall bottle production increase, the recycling rate fell.
A close-up view shows the wide variety of materials in the mixed-plastic bales. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling, Inc.
A demonstration project found that by routing mixed bales and MRF residue to a central sorting location, more than 17,000 tons of additional plastics could be captured in the Pacific Northwest each year.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Plastics Innovation Challenge will promote production of plastic products that are recyclable by design. | Jer123/Shutterstock
A U.S. Department of Energy initiative seeks to boost plastics recycling, setting a handful of goals to hit by 2030 and highlighting funding opportunities to advance technology.
In 2017, the U.S. recycled 3 million tons of plastic, down 5.1% from 2015, according to the EPA.
The U.S. plastics recycling rate fell to its lowest level in half a decade, recently released figures show.
Historically, companies have used post-consumer resin (PCR) because it was a lower cost feedstock than virgin. In recent years, however, pricing for virgin plastic (mostly “wide spec” resin) has fallen below that of PCR (mostly high quality PCR that is suitable for food contact).
Challenges remain to scaling up TPO bumper collection to a national scale. | Kaentian Street/Shutterstock
TPO bumper covers can be processed into a high-quality recycled pellet that’s cheaper than virgin plastic, but challenges remain in feedstock collection and preparation.
A Carton Council survey found 44% of respondents simply don’t believe their recyclables are being recycled. | siam.pukkato/Shutterstock
Industry-wide challenges are causing recycling-related skepticism among the public. But that’s not leading consumers to stop recycling, according to a recent survey.
Packaging company Mondi led a project that created a pouch made of 20% post-consumer plastic. | Courtesy of Mondi.
For years, packaging producers have been marketing recyclable multi-layer flexible packages. Now, they’re finding success using recycled plastic in their products.
