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Author Archives: Jared Paben

About Jared Paben

Jared Paben Associate Editor Jared Paben has worked for Resource Recycling since December 2014. Most of his earlier career was spent as a reporter for the daily newspaper in Bellingham, Wash., but he also has experience working for the Oregon volunteerism commission and for Oregon nonprofits serving low-income populations. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Asking what should count as recycling, EPA gets an earful

Published: April 20, 2021
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Sorted materials at the recycling facility.

The U.S. EPA received 108 public comments as the agency seeks to revise its recycling rate calculation methodology. | janstarik/Shutterstock

If food scraps from households are composted, should that count in the nation’s recycling rate? What if they’re fed to livestock or processed in anaerobic digesters?

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Details on NERC’s diversity-building scholarship program

Published: April 13, 2021
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Diversity concept with various color head icons.

NERC’s Next Generation Scholarship Fund is just one of multiple conversations the group is having on the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion. | Lightspring/Shutterstock

Leaders at the Northeast Recycling Council recently explained how they’ll use a new scholarship fund to help boost racial diversity in the next generation of recycling industry professionals.

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State awards grants to boost recycling

Published: April 13, 2021
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Grants binder on desk with pen and papers.

North Carolina DEQ grants will help stimulate $1.3 million in investments in recycling equipment. | Zerbor/Shutterstock

North Carolina will help pay for projects to improve the recycling of fiber, plastics, metals, construction and demolition debris, organics and more.

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Can this deposit-like system fly in Texas?

Published: March 30, 2021
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Crews remove plastic litter from Hunting Bayou in the Houston area.

Crews remove plastic litter from Hunting Bayou in the Houston area. | Courtesy of Texans for Clean Water

Legislation being considered in Texas would create a program injecting tens of millions of dollars into the recycling system each year while also paying consumers to return plastic bottles, cups and film.

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Unilever invests in fund that acquires recycling companies

Published: March 30, 2021
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Unilever logo on company building with blue sky above.

Unilever uses about 118,000 metric tons of plastic packaging in North America each year, half of which is post-consumer resin. | Peter Bueno/Shutterstock

Unilever North America will invest $15 million in the Closed Loop Partners Leadership Fund, a private equity platform that helps grow companies in the recycling value chain.

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Market development grants awarded in Washington state

Published: March 16, 2021
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Flags of Washington state and the United States flying against clouds and blue sky.

Over $500,000 was awarded to nine local governments and one university to support local markets for recovered materials. | Jeffrey B. Banke/Shutterstock

A new recycling development center in the Pacific Northwest has issued over half a million dollars in grants to help boost domestic markets for recyclables.

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SWANA tallies 52 industry on-the-job deaths last year

Published: March 9, 2021
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Worker unloads waste bin into collection truck on a residential street.

For 2020, SWANA reported 36 collection/transportation worker deaths, the same number as 2019. | Eric Buermeyer/Shutterstock

The number North American MRF workers killed on the job last year decreased, but the total number of garbage and recycling sector deaths remained flat, according to industry data.

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Battery processors lay out latest moves

Published: February 22, 2021
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Lithium batteries on white background.

Aqua Metals, a lead-acid battery recycling technology company, is moving into the lithium-ion battery recycling business. | showcake/Shutterstock

A battery recycling company goes public, North American collection numbers are released, and a lead-acid battery recycling technology company moves into the lithium-ion realm. Those announcements were made around National Battery Day last Thursday.

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