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Category: Top stories

California picks EPR producer group and releases draft rules

Published: January 8, 2024
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The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery published drafts of its covered material list categories for the extended producer responsibility for packaging program, among other announcements. | Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock

California is moving ahead on implementation of its extended producer responsibility law. The state agency recently released a draft of the regulations and selected a producer responsibility organization.  Continue Reading

Research finds recoverable fiber lost to US landfills

Published: January 2, 2024
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Trucks at a landfill site from above.

The study suggests over half of the 110 million metric tons of overall fiber that entered the waste stream went to landfill in 2019. | Janossy Gergely/Shutterstock

New research quantifies in greater detail the amount of fiber entering U.S. landfills each year. A lead author of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) study said the findings highlight a huge opportunity for additional material recovery. Continue Reading

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MRF and collection fatalities increase, but rate drops

Published: January 2, 2024
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Materials on a conveyor at a MRF.

There were seven deaths in U.S. MRFs in 2022, up from four in 2021, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. | Jantsarik/Shutterstock

The number of worker fatalities in the recycling industry – both inside materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and in collection – increased in 2022, even as the rate of on-the-job collection worker deaths decreased. Continue Reading

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Closed Loop invests in aluminum-hydrogen tech

Published: January 2, 2024
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Closed Loop invested in a technology that can take aluminum scrap from any source and turn it into a manufacturing precursor material and energy. | John New/Shutterstock

Closed Loop Partners invested in a company that uses contaminated aluminum to create hydrogen fuel and a raw material used to manufacture aluminum.  Continue Reading

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Behind Strategic’s bankruptcy, interest rates and market shifts

Published: December 8, 2023
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Glass bottles collected for recycling.

Strategic Materials cited rising feedstock prices and lower volumes, shifts in packaging away from glass, and other factors in its Chapter 11 filing. | Courtesy of the Glass Packaging Institute

A major U.S. downstream outlet for recovered glass from MRFs and bottle deposit programs filed for bankruptcy this month, citing $432 million in debts and interest. Strategic Materials says it plans to reorganize and continue operating normally without interruption. Continue Reading

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Demand shifts continue to roil U.S. mills

Published: December 12, 2023
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Baled OCC for recycling.

Rising OCC prices led to a more expensive quarter for major fiber end users in the U.S. | Vitaliy Kyrychuk/Shutterstock

The third quarter of 2023 brought continued economic challenges that led another paper company to shut down a recycled fiber mill, joining a handful that did so early this year. But there were signs of positive fiber market changes coming. Continue Reading

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Carton end market Kelly Green hits full capacity

Published: December 12, 2023
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Kelly Green Products’s Connecticut facility is running at full capacity as of November, but the company is already making expansion plans. | Courtesy of Kelly Green Products

Composite board manufacturer Kelly Green Products ramped up to full scale in November and is currently processing 400 tons of post-consumer cartons per month at its Waterbury, Conn. plant. Continue Reading

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Paper and plastic exports continue to decline

Published: December 4, 2023
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Export figures are following a yearslong trend of decline due to market changes, trade policy and China’s National Sword. | Chenxueting/Shutterstock

The U.S. continued to export less scrap fiber and plastic during the first nine months of this year, with notable drops in paper shipped to India and plastic shipped to Mexico.  Continue Reading

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