Marissa Heffernan started working for Resource Recycling in January 2022 after spending several years as a reporter at a daily newspaper in Southwest Washington. After developing a special focus on recycling policy, they are also the editor of the monthly newsletter Policy Now. Heffernan can be contacted at [email protected].
The new act is built on the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which was introduced in the last two Congressional sessions but failed to move forward. | Rob Crandall/Shutterstock
A newly introduced bill in Congress is reviving parts of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, with a focus on environmental justice.
The latest drop-off center from the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative uses AI to rapidly count and identify bottles and other containers. | Marissa Heffernan/Resource Recycling, Inc.
The busiest container redemption center in Oregon recently got an upgrade, delivering the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative’s neural network technology to a consumer-facing location for the first time.
As of 2021 there were more than 40 companies working to develop or manage chemical recycling projects in the United States. | paul prescott/Shutterstock
Mechanical recycling should take priority over chemical recycling, but there will need to be several technical solutions to the world’s plastic problem, argued panelists on a recent Product Stewardship Institute webinar.
Waste Management (WM) has committed to investing more than $800 million to enhance recycling infrastructure, including $56 million to upgrade three Pacific Northwest MRFs. | Pavel Kubarkov/Shutterstock
Dow and Waste Management are partnering on a pilot program that will give some Chicago residents the option of recycling plastic films curbside.
The latest Greenpeace report challenges the viability of U.S. plastics recycling. | MuhammadAzman/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
An updated report from Greenpeace USA maintains that no plastics in the U.S. actually meet the definition of recyclable and calls for companies to switch to other materials.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) created the Recycling Industry Operating Standard (RIOS) to promote environmental consciousness and ensure MRF workers’ health and safety. | MichaelFelixPhotography/Shutterstock
Looking to support employees and set a higher bar for quality, Oregon-based Far West Recycling certified its northeast Portland facility to the Recycling Industry Operating Standard. It is the first MRF to do so.
Hosted by the Northeast Recycling Council, the 2022 National Recycling Congress was held virtually on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10. | Orhan Cam/Shutterstock
Model extended producer responsibility bills and federal funding were two hot topics at the 2022 National Recycling Congress, with panelists calling for packaging reduction and a broad overhaul of the recycling system. Continue Reading
The second year in which COVID-19 cases in the workplace were reported, 2021 saw a steep decline in the illness rate for solid waste collection workers. | Joyseulay/Shutterstock
According to federal data, the waste and recycling industry injury rate fell in 2021, bringing it to the lowest point since 2006. Continue Reading
A total of $1.17 million for recycling companies came as part of a larger $3.2 million round of funding in the latest installment of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. | Tada Images/Shutterstock
An AI-powered robotic sortation system, a glass-to-cement company and a zero waste software maker all received small business grants from the U.S. EPA.
Years of work, capped by several frenzied months, went into the passage of California’s SB 54, one of the biggest recycling laws in U.S. history. | Jonathan Lenz/Shutterstock