More than 500 industry professionals converged on Minneapolis last week for the 2017 Resource Recycling Conference. Staff photographer Jared Paben captured the action.
The slideshow below offers a collection of photos from the week. Hover over a photo to bring up arrows that allow you to advance through the sequence, or view the album on Flickr.
Recycling facilities are encountering both good and bad news on the fiber-market front: OCC prices have increased substantially, but mixed paper slipped further into the negatives.
The legislation includes a national bottle bill, which experts say would significantly boost the container recycling rate. | Orhan Cam/Shutterstock
Two Congressmen today introduced a comprehensive waste management and recycling support bill. This week, they shared details about the legislation and expressed optimism that it will garner bipartisan support.
U.S. recovered fiber exports fell by roughly 3 million tons from 2018 to 2019. | StockStudio Aerials/Shutterstock
In 2019, recovered fiber exports from the United States experienced their largest year-over-year decline on record. U.S. scrap plastic exports also continued a substantial fall.
Coca-Cola HBC, a major bottler for the Coca-Cola Co. in Europe, has announced seven new sustainability goals for 2020.
Curbside recycling can put additional collection trucks on the road. But the recycling process ultimately brings environmental benefits that far outweigh the extra vehicle emissions, according to a study from Waste Management.
The Association of Plastic Recyclers will research ways in which materials recovery facilities might be able to recover more smaller sized plastic containers, which are often lost during sortation. That was one of several actions the group announced at a recent meeting.
When it comes to plastic bag legislation, 2017 may be the storm after the storm. After the high-profile battle over California’s statewide plastic bag ban, legislators in at least 16 states have introduced bills related to bags this year.
For years, Florida has prohibited local bans on plastic bags and EPS food-service products – or has it? A state judge recently ruled that the prohibition no longer applies and, in response, one city has passed a plastic bag ban.
Despite a year of market uncertainty, U.S. recovered paper exports increased in 2018, driven largely by OCC shipments. However, scrap plastic exports fell substantially as countries enacted stringent trade policies.