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Judge’s ruling means plastics initiative likely going to voters

Published: July 7, 2020
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U.S. and California flags against a blue sky.

A proposed California ballot measure would direct CalRecycle to charge producers up to a 1-cent fee for each single-use plastic package sold into the state. | RaksyBH/Shutterstock

A California court has given proponents of a California plastic waste initiative more time to gather signatures, all but assuring it will make the ballot, according to supporters.

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Study explores southeast state’s contamination rate

Published: June 30, 2020
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Recycling bins on a Florida street.

Researchers in Florida have noticed a gradual increase in contamination rates in recent years. | Blueee77/Shutterstock

MRFs in Florida have historically landfilled about one-quarter of the weight that comes in the door, according to a study commissioned by the Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation.

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Recycled pulp mill planned in Northeast US

Published: June 30, 2020
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Paper bales for recycling.

Once operational, the Empire Recycled Fiber mill will produce 440,000 tons per year of recycled paper pulp. | Luis M. Seco/Shutterstock

A $125 million recycled paper pulp mill in Pennsylvania will source more than 500,000 tons per year of mixed paper and OCC. The facility will ship its product to China.

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GFL to buy assets from WM and Advanced Disposal

Published: June 30, 2020
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GFL waste hauling truck.

In a recently announced deal GFL agreed to pay $835 million for operations now owned by WM and Advanced. | Philip Lange/Shutterstock

Waste Management will acquire Advanced Disposal Services for about $300 million less than originally anticipated. Meanwhile, GFL Environmental agreed to buy a number of U.S. solid waste operations as part of the acquisition deal.

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Recycling policy is back after COVID-19 hiatus

Published: June 23, 2020
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The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Recently, a Senate committee spent two hours hearing about the challenges facing U.S. recycling. | Alexandru Smut Calin/Shutterstock

Across the U.S., recycling conversations among elected officials are gaining momentum, suggesting 2020 could still be marked by laws related to materials recovery.

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How do urban and rural recycling streams compare?

Published: June 23, 2020
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Waste and recycling bins outside of homes.

A research project in Ontario compared single-family and multi-family streams in medium-sized urban cities with single-family streams in rural programs. | Diana Parkhouse/Shutterstock

Officials in one area of Ontario dove deep into recycling stream composition data, producing results that informed a municipality’s new recycling contract. Continue Reading

What industry learned from flexible film recycling effort

Published: June 23, 2020
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Plastics sortation at the MRFF research facility.

The TotalRecycle MRF saw a 70% contamination reduction in its mixed paper and old newsprint bales from installing the flexible packaging sortation equipment. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling, Inc.

A multi-stakeholder project was able to hit some goals separating flexible plastic packaging from other recyclables at a MRF. But backers also reported significant hurdles moving material downstream cost-effectively.

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MRF operator and public agency are at odds in Iowa

Published: June 16, 2020
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Aerial view of Des Moines, Iowa.

The Des Moines, Iowa Metro Waste Authority recently approved a loan agreement to finance construction of a new MRF, which officials say could cost about $24 million. | cnetten/Shutterstock

Plans to build a new publicly funded MRF in the Des Moines, Iowa area have drawn criticism from the region’s current recycling contractor.

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