Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
A Chinese company will open a plastics recycling facility in Georgia, the latest instance in a growing trend of Chinese investment in North American processing infrastructure.
Recycling companies are seeing higher freight costs amid a tight trucking market, and the logistical challenges are predicted to increase in the coming years.
The head of Waste Connections says the economics of recycling must change. Otherwise, companies’ sorting costs will further outpace the revenue they fetch from commodity sales.
Governments in Southeast Asia are following through on promises to heavily restrict scrap imports. Meanwhile, a U.S. senator has singled out a shuttered West Coast paper mill as a possible outlet for recovered fiber.
After Resource Recycling highlighted conservative commentators who questioned the foundations of materials recovery, a number of industry professionals jabbed back, noting the economic strengths still inherent in recycling.
To keep up with the top export destinations for U.S.-sourced recyclables, Resource Recycling examined the latest shipping data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
As more Chinese import restrictions roll in, domestic mills continue to pay even less for recovered fiber. Meanwhile, some are looking at how they can supply Chinese buyers with finished product in the future.
This story has been updated.
The Chinese government plans to levy a 25 percent tariff on U.S. shipments of OCC and other recovered fiber, as well as scrap plastic, in retaliation for the latest U.S. tariff proposals.
A Virginia newsprint mill will undergo a nearly $300 million conversion to produce recycled paperboard. The facility will use mostly OCC and some mixed paper as feedstock.
