Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Over the course of the year, Greif reported its paper packaging and services division saw $2.3 billion in sales, up 2% year over year. | Pitipat Wongprasit/Shutterstock
Paper packaging giant Greif is the latest containerboard producer to announce a price hike for the recycled fiber end product at the beginning of 2025, employing a tool the company has used throughout this year to offset higher OCC feedstock costs and account for other cost growth. Continue Reading
Continuus Materials’ Iowa facility was acquired by hauler WM only a few years ago. | Courtesy of Continuus
A growing end market for mixed paper, plastic and cartons abruptly closed this fall. Continue Reading
Amy Uong, second from right, speaks during ‘Saying Yes in the Land of No,’ a session held during the Resource Recycling Conference in Kentucky last month. | Dan Holtmeyer/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Faced with challenges moving recycled materials in recent years, MRFs and curbside recycling programs have occasionally opted to stop accepting certain materials, particularly experimental or harder-to-market packaging types.
Battery-bearing devices are detected in the municipal recycling stream using X-ray imaging. | Courtesy of Battery Detection Solutions
An emerging equipment supplier uses an advanced type of X-ray imaging to locate batteries in MRFs and other recycling facilities while also aiming to capture data on the overall composition of commodities in the stream.
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RIOS provides an operations standard tailored specifically to the recycling sector. | Photo courtesy RIOS
After years of interacting with the Recycling Industry Operating Standard as a manager at a RIOS-certified recycling firm, Shannon Fertitta was recently appointed executive director of the group that administers RIOS. Continue Reading
A group of 67 recycling, manufacturing and environmental organizations sent a letter urging Congress to pass two recycling-related bills before the year ends. | Michael Vi/Shutterstock
Trade associations are rallying behind two pieces of stalled federal legislation that would improve rural recycling and composting access, boost data collection and more. The push comes before the 119th Congress convenes in January. Continue Reading
Exports of key recovered materials continued recent trends from July through September of this year, with paper exports declining modestly and plastic exports flat. | apiguide/Shutterstock
Recovered fiber exports have continued a multi-year decline in 2024, both in the third quarter and in the first nine months of the year as a whole. Plastic exports, however, have stayed steady and even slightly increased throughout the year. Continue Reading
The industry group’s recycling rate now considers additional international trade data, allowing it to better capture imported material that ends up in the recycling stream. | Kyna Studio/Shutterstock
The American Forest & Paper Association has overhauled its methodology for calculating fiber recycling rates, bringing a significantly lower OCC recovery figure than the industry previously reported. Continue Reading
North American fiber end markets saw stronger demand and expect declining costs in the near term. | DenisNata/Shutterstock
Major North American recovered fiber end users saw stronger containerboard demand during the third quarter of the year, according to recent earnings calls. Most are also projecting declining recovered fiber costs through the end of the year. Continue Reading
The first Trump administration brought proposed EPA budget cuts, large tax cuts, withdrawal from international environmental agreements and more, all of which touched the recycling sector. | Orhan Cam/Shutterstock
The clear ballot-box victory of Republicans across the branches of U.S. government could affect the municipal recycling world in a number of ways. It’s early, but some signs from the past – and some recent analysis from industry observers – offer a glimpse of what’s to come.