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Author Archives: Editorial Staff

Trucking market heads in reverse

Published: August 13, 2019
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Freight trucks parked in a row.

Ongoing economic uncertainty has contributed to the freight market shift. | Vitpho/Shutterstock

Multiple factors have led to lower demand for trucking, bringing shipping cost relief to many in the recycling industry.

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Our top stories from July 2019

Published: August 6, 2019
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News about federal Zero Waste legislation captured readers’ attention. | Supachai Pakdeesrisakda/Shutterstock

A mix of stories covering legislation, recycling markets and paper mills drew readers’ interest last month.

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Our top stories from June 2019

Published: July 9, 2019
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Fiber containers in recycling bins.

Recovered fiber markets caught reader attention last month. | sylv1rob1/Shutterstock

Markets and contamination were the hot topics in June, with all of our most popular articles highlighting these issues.

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Data Corner: How market shifts have hit one municipal program

Published: February 25, 2019
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In late 2018, officials in the city of Walla Walla, Wash. (population 32,000) issued a report that showed the economics of the city’s single-stream curbside recycling program turned upside down over the course of 18 months.

As the graph below indicates, the city went from earning up to $30 per ton for recyclables in early 2017 to paying as much as $100 per ton a year later. Over the course of 2018, the city’s program lost a total of $130,000.

Walla Walla, which attributed the financial flip primarily to China’s National Sword import policy, has instituted a monthly recycling surcharge on resident bills to help get the program back on solid financial footing. The city’s program collects standard fiber items and plastics Nos. 1 and 2. It does not accept glass.

Data Corner chart, Feb. 2019

Data source: City of Walla Walla, Wash.

This article originally appeared in the February 2019 issue of Resource Recycling. Subscribe today for access to all print content.

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