With newly announced process, Chinese importers can apply for tariff exemptions beginning this week. | Sumrit Tesrumphun/Shutterstock
The Chinese government will consider exempting tariffs on OCC and other recovered fiber on a company-by-company basis. Meanwhile, a tariff on U.S. recycled paper pulp shipments into China has been lifted for one year.
The Total Fiber Recovery project joins a number of other domestic recycled fiber processing capacity expansions that have been announced or come on-line since China began restricting imports. | Siwakorn1933/Shutterstock
A plant taking in mixed paper and OCC is on the way in Virginia, the latest planned domestic market expansion for U.S. recovered fiber.
The U.S. in 2019 shipped 192,000 short tons of mixed paper to South Korea. | Mariusz Bugno/Shutterstock
A large buyer of U.S. scrap paper and plastic is planning measures to reduce imports and increase domestic recycling of those materials.
Notable changes have taken place in markets for curbside recyclables over the past month, including an increase in OCC prices and a steep dive in natural HDPE prices.
During recent earnings calls, a number of fiber company executives touched on pricing trends they are seeing around OCC and other grades.
One major U.S. mill operator is actively shipping recycled paper pulp to China, and another is installing equipment to bring in lower grades of paper feedstock. Those were a few takeaways from recent earnings calls from publicly traded paper firms.
A recent Greenpeace report noted companies are increasingly calling a wider variety of products “recyclable.” | Marko Rupena/Shutterstock
Several recycling industry reports were recently released, including a Greenpeace indictment of recyclability labeling, the latest updates from Closed Loop Partners, and one state’s investigation of food waste in public schools.
The New York Capitol in Albany, where two bills concerning packaging EPR are currently in committees.| Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock
Two bills have been introduced in New York State creating extended producer responsibility programs for printed paper and packaging.
This year’s Resource Recycling Conference is providing much-needed insight on a range of critical recycling issues. And on the event’s first day, the National Recycling Coalition named its new executive director.
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.