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.
Although third quarter revenues reached record levels for some of the nation’s top five haulers, plummeting OCC pricing in October was an indicator for commodity values heading into 2025. | 2p2play/Shutterstock
Third-quarter commodity prices contributed to record quarterly revenues and margins for several of North America’s largest publicly traded garbage and recycling companies, according to recent financial disclosures. But that has changed moving into the final stretch of the year.
Exports of key recovered materials continued recent trends from July through September of this year, with paper exports declining modestly and plastic exports flat. | apiguide/Shutterstock
Recovered fiber exports have continued a multi-year decline in 2024, both in the third quarter and in the first nine months of the year as a whole. Plastic exports, however, have stayed steady and even slightly increased throughout the year. Continue Reading
The annual Resource Recycling Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, drew more than 300 registered attendees to sessions including “Connecting Innovation and Grassroots Efforts to Curtail Contamination.” | Dan Holtmeyer/Resource Recycling, Inc.
The 2024 Resource Recycling Conference kicked off Wednesday, bringing hundreds of recycling program managers, advocates and other experts to share successes and lessons from across the country.
The 2024 Resource Recycling Conference brought hundreds of municipal leaders together in Louisville, Kentucky, from Nov. 13-15 to connect with colleagues, explore industry best practices and celebrate America Recycles Day.
(Click a photo to bring up a lightbox viewer that allows you to advance through the sequence. Photos by Dan Holtmeyer, Resource Recycling, Inc.)
The Cans for Cash program launched in Blytheville, Arkansas, and will soon expand to Florida, Illinois and Mississippi. | Courtesy of Replenysh/Cash for Cans
In an effort to return more aluminum beverage cans to the recycling system, Every Can Counts U.S. and Replenysh started a community-driven recycling program in states without deposit return systems or strong curbside collection programs. Continue Reading
Findings from the surveys showed that Americans lack knowledge on consumer batteries and confidence in the end result for their recyclable plastics. | Kinek00/Shutterstock
Fewer than half of respondents in a new WM recycling survey knew which household products contain lithium-ion batteries — an especially significant finding since fire is a huge safety concern for MRFs and is often caused by batteries. Continue Reading
The new MRF is expected to open in early 2026 near Denver and will be the first such facility for AMP. | Jantsarik/Shutterstock
AI-driven sortation systems provider AMP and hauler Waste Connections are partnering to build a new MRF in Colorado, slated to open in early 2026. Continue Reading
The industry group’s recycling rate now considers additional international trade data, allowing it to better capture imported material that ends up in the recycling stream. | Kyna Studio/Shutterstock
The American Forest & Paper Association has overhauled its methodology for calculating fiber recycling rates, bringing a significantly lower OCC recovery figure than the industry previously reported. Continue Reading
