Resource Recycling keeps you on top of critical industry trends and brings unparalleled analysis of the evolving materials stream, market turbulence, policy trends and more.
Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletters to receive the latest news directly.
Connecticut will begin a phased-in deposit program resumption on May 20. | monticello/Shutterstock
Connecticut retailers will begin accepting deposit containers on a limited basis this week and will ramp up to full service early next month. COVID-19 disruptions to deposit programs continue in other states.
TerraCycle US sold $5.81 million worth of recycled plastic and other materials in 2019, well over double its net sales from the prior year. | Courtesy of TerraCycle.
A car seat recycling deal with a major retailer helped boost TerraCycle’s recovered commodity sales by over $3.5 million last year, according to a financial report.
Each of Looptworks’ reusable masks are made from 100% post-industrial materials. | Courtesy of Looptworks
A small manufacturer recently began using post-industrial materials to produce masks for the COVID-19 response.
Novelis consumed 2.17 million short tons of recycled aluminum in 2020. | Fotosr52/Shutterstock
Novelis saw less financial benefit from using recycled material last year due to low virgin aluminum pricing. Meanwhile, the company is experiencing recycled material supply disruptions due to COVID-19.
Recycled material shipments out of the U.S. have been on the decline for multiple years due to overseas regulatory changes. | MAGNIFIER/Shutterstock
U.S. exports of recycled paper and plastic were down during the first quarter of 2020 compared with previous years, according to new export data.
Republic Services is among the haulers that experienced year-over-year decreases in first-quarter recycling revenues. | Rosamar/Shutterstock
Two years after China’s imports ban upended material flows, recycling revenues are still falling for the largest waste and recycling companies in North America.
Officials estimate that 20 projects receiving grants will collectively divert nearly 44,000 tons of material from landfills each year. | ImagineStock/Shutterstock
North Carolina recently awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to help divert mixed recyclables, organics, paper, plastic and other materials from landfills.
NRT is currently producing about 75 mask comfort products a day. | Courtesy of National Recovery Technologies (NRT).
Normally, NRT’s 3D printer is busy producing parts for optical sorters and other recycling machinery. But amid the pandemic, the company is also using the technology to make mask straps that help out health care workers.
The CDC recently released a document covering steps employees and employers in the recycling and waste industries can take to prevent the spread of the virus. | g0d4ather/Shutterstock
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a fact sheet to help keep garbage and recycling industry workers safe during the pandemic.
California cities of 50,000 residents or more are seeing inbound contamination rates between 8% and 46%, with an average of 20%. | Oksana Shturo/Shutterstock
According to a study from The Recycling Partnership, large and mid-sized cities in California see an average contamination rate of around 20%, a finding that underscores the complications of aligning enthusiastic residents with local-program realities.