Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Vinod Singh of Far West Recycling speaks during an Association of Oregon Recyclers presentation on recycling facility battery fires in February. | Dan Holtmeyer/Resource Recycling
At a Portland, Oregon-area transfer station, site superintendent Matt Tracy has noticed smaller lithium-ion batteries often behave like fireworks when they go into thermal runaway: They move erratically and can even become projectiles. Continue Reading
Robotic sorting systems that have reached end of life are being processed by electronics recycling firm First America. | Courtesy of First America
Robotic sorting systems are increasingly making their way into MRFs and other recycling facilities, where they sort recyclables and even disassemble electronics. Now, they’re entering one electronics recycling company’s facilities as part of the end-of-life stream.
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Rather than tossing the foodservice products in the trash, consumers place them in a return bin, where they’re collected and taken to a facility to be inspected, washed and redeployed. | Courtesy of Bold Reuse
A reusable packaging company’s durable drinkware and other foodservice products will be adopted by a handful of schools in Seattle and multiple U.S. soccer stadiums, the company recently announced. It’s adding new infrastructure to meet the additional demand. Continue Reading
After a slump in demand, the containerboard market is heating up again, bringing with it a need for recycled fiber feedstock. | DenisNata/Shutterstock
Major mill operators forecast a year of recovering demand in the containerboard market, translating to a greater need for the OCC and other fiber grades needed to supply those paper machines. Continue Reading
Cascades is permanently closing a recycled paper mill and two corrugated converting plants due to market conditions and other factors. | Pitipat Wongprasi/Shutterstock
North American fiber packaging giant Cascades announced that a recycled paper mill and two corrugated converting plants have closed permanently, citing a handful of factors including market conditions. Continue Reading
The U.S. exported 14.3 million short tons of recovered fiber in 2023, down 17% from 2022. | Nickpeps/Shutterstock
U.S. recovered paper exports in 2023 reached a 19-year low, driven by major multi-year declines in shipments into key overseas markets. Recovered plastic exports dropped slightly year over year, bringing a record low for another consecutive year. Continue Reading
An AMP One fully automated AI sorting system operating at the company’s Cleveland, Ohio secondary sortation facility. | Courtesy of AMP
After 10 years helping materials recovery facilities retrofit with innovative robotics equipment, AMP Robotics has dropped the latter part of its name, reflecting an emerging focus on building recycling centers from scratch with AI-equipped sorting systems.
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The $150 million price tag on the new Lane County, Oregon, facility will be footed by Bulk Handling Systems and the county. | Courtesy of Bulk Handling Systems
An upcoming facility in Lane County, Oregon, will process mixed waste, commingled recyclables and organics and is projected to boost the county’s diversion rate by as much as 20 percentage points. Continue Reading
Recology’s newest MRF in California has seven optical sorters, an eddy current separator, drum magnet and 109 conveyor belts. | Courtesy of Recology
A $35 million materials recovery facility that opened this week in Sonoma County promises to more than double the processing capacity of the sorting center it is replacing. Continue Reading
Experts noted that lower OCC generation and higher demand is driving up recycled fiber prices. | Trainman111/Shutterstock
Containerboard, cartonboard and tissue markets appear primed for growth in the years ahead, experts say. That spells good news for recycled paper prices, which have been on a slow climb over the last half year. Continue Reading