Research looking at Europe found EPR programs that set material-specific targets will likely increase recycling rates. | Evan Lorne/Shutterstock
Recently published research helps inform the producer responsibility debate in the U.S. by looking at past outcomes in Europe.
Fiberglass insulation manufacturer Owens Corning increased its use of recycled materials in 2021. | Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
A bottle maker received money to help the company use more recycled glass, and a fiberglass insulation manufacturer increased its use of cullet last year. The following are recent headlines related to recovered glass end users.
Timeline final update: March 22, 2022
Eureka Recycling, which operates a MRF in Minneapolis, is a member of the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers, which criticized plastics-to-fuel processes. | Courtesy of Eureka Recycling
The Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers called plastics-to-fuel processes “false solutions,” though the group of nonprofit recyclers says it is more open to technologies that are geared toward production of recycled resin.
A total of 28 waste and recycling workers died on the job in 2021, down from 52 deaths in 2020. | Somchai_Stock/Shutterstock
Solid waste and recycling worker fatalities dropped by nearly 50% in 2021, maintaining a downward trend that started in 2018.
A report from Google suggests that reaching a circular economy will require rethinking design, reducing resource consumption, recycling and other interventions. | Nevodka/Shutterstock
Google published its latest plastic circularity report, finding that both chemical and mechanical recycling will be needed to close the “plastics circularity gap” by 2040. The tech giant also pointed to taxing virgin plastics to help reduce waste.
David Biderman, far right, addresses the audience at the 2022 Plastics Recycling Conference. | Brian Adams Photo
Interest in minimum-recycled-content mandates and extended producer responsibility bills is at an all-time high, but the reality of passing legislation is more complicated, according to industry experts.
March has brought surges in prices for several curbside recyclables, with PET containers up 24%, aluminum cans up 25%, color HDPE up 32% and polypropylene up 30%.
Census Bureau data shows U.S. companies exported nearly 18 million short tons of recovered fiber in 2021, up 13% from the year prior. | DifferR/Shutterstock
Scrap fiber exports to China collapsed in 2021, but the rest of the world more than made up the difference. Scrap plastics, however, continued their years-long decline in shipments.
Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act was signed into law in August 2021, creating a 12-person task force to research and evaluate recyclability claims. | Yanqiang Dai/Shutterstock
For several years, lawmakers across the U.S. have been drafting policy to address concerns about ocean plastic. In Oregon, a key recycling labeling task force elected a representative from an ocean environmental group as vice chair.