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].
Leaders in Ontario have proposed adding bags, straws and other materials to the province’s recycling program. | Bowonpat Sakaew/Shutterstock
Leaders in Ontario unveiled regulations adding materials to its Blue Box recycling program, expanding service to smaller communities and setting high diversion targets.
Apple alleges its damages total $30 million Canadian, deriving from lost profits from gray-markets sales and injury to Apple’s brand image and trademarks. | IRENE COLL INGLES/Shutterstock
Computer giant Apple claims that devices it sent to a Canadian electronics recycling company for destruction were mismanaged and resold.
The Continuous Improvement Fund wrote that China’s National Sword campaign increased sorting costs and drove down commodity sales revenues in Ontario. | joi54/Shutterstock
China’s National Sword and the evolving packaging stream have pushed up net recycling costs by nearly 13% in Canada’s largest province.
A committee in Oregon envisions a uniform statewide “accepted recyclables list,” as well as “truth-in-labeling” requirements, which would require packaging to have accurate labeling indicating whether it should be recycled, composted or disposed of in the trash. | emmavgerard/Shutterstock
A multi-stakeholder group in Oregon is urging state leaders to implement an extended producer responsibility program for printed paper and packaging. In Washington, officials are developing recommendations to reduce plastic packaging waste.
Stony Brook University is one New York school receiving funding to research recycling-related topics. | Steve Cukrov/Shutterstock
The state of New York will inject nearly $12 million into academia to study and improve the recycling system. Continue Reading
Research scientists focused on the formation of micro-crystals when molten alloys under a magnetic field cool down. | Darrenp/Shutterstock
University research in the U.K. could lead to technologies for boosting the quality of recycled aluminum.
Federal funding has been announced for research looking into sorting scrap plastic and using enzymes to clean material, among other recycling-related efforts. | paul prescott/Shutterstock
The REMADE Institute announced it will provide $6 million to fund several recycling research projects. The same day, it declared it’ll provide up to $35 million for its next round of grants.
California Assembly Bill 793 requires that all plastic bottles covered by the state’s container redemption program average at least 15% post-consumer resin starting in 2022. | Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
California lawmakers approved legislation requiring beverage companies to use recycled plastic. If signed, the bill will usher in the first recycled-content law of its kind for plastic bottles in the U.S.
In the U.S., dozens of brand owners, retailers, government agencies and nonprofit groups have joined the U.S. Plastics Pact. | Nagy-Bagoly Arpad/Shutterstock
A program called U.S. Plastics Pact, associated with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, will pursue strategies to eliminate unnecessary packaging, increase recyclability, and ensure packaging contains recycled plastic. It has more than 60 industry backers.
Just over 1 billion pounds of post-consumer bag and film plastics were recovered in 2018. | Pavel Kubarkov/Shutterstock
The amount of U.S. plastic film and non-bottle plastic rigids collected for recycling decreased in 2018, but domestic processors took in more of the material, according to More Recycling.