Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].
MRF operators are increasing their labor forces and installing additional sorting equipment in response to Chinese restrictions on scrap imports. At the same time, a standard ton of single-stream recyclables in the U.S. has dropped in value by roughly 50 percent in recent weeks.
The nation’s largest glass beneficiation company caught the attention of a private investment firm, which announced last week it will acquire the operation.
Municipal programs in the Pacific Northwest continue to feel the impacts of China’s import restrictions, and multiple local programs are halting acceptance of certain materials in response.
In a bid to reduce contamination in the recycling stream, California lawmakers have revised the state’s definition of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to exclude the glycol-modified version of the resin PETG. The change means products made from the altered plastic are barred from using resin code No. 1.
Cartons, corrugate, expanded polystyrene, film and pouches are among the materials and products California officials say could be subject to mandatory packaging management rules.
The upstream impacts of China’s import restrictions have been increasingly covered in national and local press, raising the level of public consciousness about where recyclables ultimately end up and how that could all change.
The U.S. OCC market plummeted last week as China substantially slows its recovered material imports. Inside China, the lack of import capability has driven domestic OCC prices sky high.
Government officials have confirmed they are monitoring China’s import policy changes and are joining industry associations in seeking clarification from Chinese authorities.
China’s import policy changes are forcing U.S. recycling companies to seek adjustments to municipal contracts, stockpile materials and even landfill recyclables.
State recycling money is on the chopping block in Pennsylvania, the latest arena in which legislators look to draw from recycling support funds as a way to balance the state budget.