Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Walmart grew its recycled plastic use across product packaging lines from less than 0.5% in 2018 to 9% in 2019. | Chekyravaa/Shutterstock
Some of the largest packaged goods and retail firms increased their use of recycled plastic in 2019, but they have work to do to hit 2025 targets, according to an Ellen MacArthur Foundation update.
CalRecycle plans to release final redemption data for the first six months of 2020 in the coming weeks. | anmbph/Shutterstock
This story has been updated with new redemption figures from California’s recycling agency.
Advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog recently noted the COVID-19 pandemic has slashed California’s beverage container recycling rate. But the state’s recycling agency called that analysis “inaccurate.”
Vietnamese imports of U.S. mixed paper dropped to 74,000 short tons in 2018, then to 45,000 in 2019. | Domicile Media/Shutterstock
Vietnam, a relatively small market for U.S. mixed paper, will no longer allow imports of the material beginning in 2022. The restriction does not appear to affect OCC, which the U.S. ships to Vietnam in far greater quantities.
Atlantic Packaging’s new 100% recycled paper machine is scheduled to start up in the first quarter of 2022. | MUSTAFA HAMDIEV/Shutterstock
A Canadian packaging firm will expand with a paper machine producing 400,000 tons per year of containerboard and other corrugated products.
In addition to the draft strategy, the EPA plans to release a list of national recycling goals this fall. | Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock
A draft of the U.S. EPA’s National Recycling Strategy was published last week. The plan aims to foster a “stronger, more resilient and cost-effective” recycling system.
Because they are made out of recyclable aluminum and stainless steel materials, the Verity packaging options are widely curbside recyclable. | Courtesy of Verity.
Verity, a startup making packaging for personal care products, is producing curbside-recyclable aluminum options in lieu of hard-to-recycle plastic.
There are now only a few types of scrap plastic shipments not subject to the new Basel criteria. | Go_Legacy/Shutterstock
Experts with the U.S. EPA say there are a number of potential outcomes from upcoming shifts in global rules governing scrap plastic shipments. Under one possibility, trade in scrap plastic will no longer be allowed between the U.S. and most other countries.
The new GAIA report includes recycling market development examples from Salt Lake City and Minneapolis-St. Paul. | Sabelnikova Olga/Shutterstock
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives this month published a document laying out steps communities can take to reach zero waste, tying the actions to social and economic justice.
The Recycling Partnership recently released “Accelerating Recycling,” a policy document outlining a proposal that includes fees paid by brands and packaging producers. | photka/Shutterstock
Two major industry groups are promoting packaging fees on product makers to support recycling infrastructure development, a shift one MRF operator described as a “historical moment.”
