News about recycling program disruptions around North America captured attention in March. | Oksana Shturo/Shutterstock
Because coronavirus has upended life for North America, it’s no surprise that stories about the pandemic’s impacts to the recycling industry dominated our readers’ attention last month.
The list below shows our top stories published in March in terms of unique page views.
1 | Coronavirus pandemic disrupts recycling sector
The global escalation of COVID-19 is hampering some North American recycling programs, impacting Chinese users of U.S. recovered fiber, constraining global shipping, denting stock prices and threatening an economic recession.
2 | Republic: COVID-19 brings ‘uncontrollable challenges’
Republic Services foresees major changes in the residential and commercial recycling landscape due to the coronavirus pandemic.
3 | Fiber end users continue to evolve with export markets
One major U.S. mill operator is actively shipping recycled paper pulp to China, and another is installing equipment to bring in lower grades of paper feedstock. Those were a few takeaways from recent earnings calls from publicly traded paper firms.
4 | Virus leads to program changes across North America
Recycling programs nationwide have curtailed service due to the coronavirus pandemic, potentially hampering the supply of recyclables moving to market in the weeks to come.
6 | Recycling largely steers clear of mandates shuttering businesses
Recycling collection and processing has been deemed essential by states that have issued stay-at-home orders, meaning industry entities are not subject to forced shutdowns.
