Marissa Heffernan started working for Resource Recycling in January 2022 after spending several years as a reporter at a daily newspaper in Southwest Washington. She can be contacted at [email protected].
The introduction of the EPR bill came after lawmakers stripped a prior EPR proposal out of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget proposal. | Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock
This story has been updated and corrected.
An extended producer responsibility bill that has the support of environmental activists was recently introduced in New York, while a Colorado EPR bill moved to the Senate floor.
Colorado legislators have advanced an EPR bill through the House. | Ambient Ideas/Shutterstock
Colorado’s much-watched extended producer responsibility bill for packaging crossed a key threshold this week and is now heading for the state Senate.
Investor interest in waste reduction and recycling is rising steadily, according to an investment manager. | Sittipong Phokawattana/Shutterstock
As aspirations for a circular economy continue to gain traction, some financial index providers are urging investors to take notice of what they call an emerging opportunity.
Paper recycling has moved to the center of the EPR debate in Colorado. | olephoto/Shutterstock
Municipal recycling advocates and the fiber manufacturing industry are at odds over a producer responsibility proposal in Colorado, underscoring a major rift in the push for stronger recycling policy.
Broken down by scrap type, a study found that bottles, non-bottle rigid plastics and other plastics all saw declines individually in 2020. | TeuNg StyLe/Shutterstock
The U.S. is processing more of its scrap plastic domestically, but the overall weight of plastic recycled in 2020 dropped just under 6% from 2019, according to an annual industry report.
Colorado’s Capitol building in Denver. | Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock
Colorado and Hawaii are both working to pass extended producer responsibility bills this legislative session that are tailored to fit each state’s needs. Continue Reading
The New York State Capitol in Albany. | Real Window Creative/Shutterstock
In recent days, a proposal for extended producer responsibility was sidelined in New York, and Iowa lawmakers sat deadlocked over legislation to update the bottle bill.
The city of Phoenix has selected Machinex to build a 30-ton-per-hour, single-stream system in 2023. | Courtesy of Machinex
Several MRFs around the country have recently upgraded their equipment or started the construction process.
Using EPA data, researchers estimated how much more plastic was landfilled due to China’s National Sword policy. | Maksim Safaniuk/Shutterstock
China’s National Sword policy caused the quantity of plastic landfilled in the U.S. to jump by 23%, researchers at the University at Buffalo found.
Material on the line at the Balcones Resources MRF in Austin, Texas. The company will begin processing in San Antonio in 2024. | Resource Recycling, Inc.
The seventh-largest city in the U.S. is switching recycling sortation contractors, with a unanimous vote April 7 to approve a contract with Balcones Resources. The city previously had a processing deal with Republic Services.