Twenty states officially filed variants of Right to Repair legislation in 2019. No bills have received a vote yet – which is normal and expected, given how hard it is to get all but the most trivial of bills passed.
Prices for recovered papers and HDPE have taken a beating over the past month, although aluminum and PET values have been more stable.
The California Capitol in Sacramento. | trekandshoot/Shutterstock
California lawmakers passed a bill requiring the use of recycled plastic in beverage containers. Separately, they OK’d legislation aimed at easing the use of cullet in bottles.
Over the last month, some curbside plastics have seen notable market changes. Meanwhile, prices for paper bales have remained constant, albeit low.
The shifting stream of materials used in packaging has been much-discussed. But while it’s true plastics are being used in more applications, fiber continues to dominate the recycling stream from a volume perspective.
Historically, companies have used post-consumer resin (PCR) because it was a lower cost feedstock than virgin. In recent years, however, pricing for virgin plastic (mostly “wide spec” resin) has fallen below that of PCR (mostly high quality PCR that is suitable for food contact).
