2017 brought the lowest volume of film recovered and sold since 2010. | taniascamera/Shutterstock
Non-bottle mixed plastics and film recycling have experienced their first major drops in a decade, two studies indicate. But amid the challenges, domestic use of both streams increased.
Brands across the globe are announcing goals to use high levels of recycled plastic. But the companies that actually deliver PCR to the market are predicting a major hurdle: supply shortfalls.
Eyeing material from manufacturers in the Southeastern United States, Ontario-based Kal-Polymers has purchased a recycling and compounding operation in Georgia.
Nestlé Waters North America has signed a pre-buy agreement with CarbonLite, deepening its already entwined relationship with the PET reclaimer.
QRS Recycling has sold its large Kentucky materials recovery facility, leaving the company with one plastic recovery facility and a stake in a manufacturing operation.
Credit: Nerijus Juras/Shutterstock
A North American recycling operation will open an e-plastics-focused facility in response to Chinese import restrictions.
In bulky rigid plastics recycling, the materials recovery facility is at the center of the equation. But downstream developments have also been key to monetizing a material that was long seen as a contaminant.
Pharmacies generate an abundant supply of clean, white HDPE that more often than not goes straight into the waste stream. The Association of Plastic Recyclers is looking to change that.
Three years ago, HDPE reclaimer Envision Plastics was acquired by a major packaging producer. Now, that packaging company also has a new owner.
Plastic film recycling reached a new high in 2015, but less rigid plastic was recycled than in years prior, according to the American Chemistry Council. The group released two market reports at the Plastics Recycling 2017 conference this week.