Oregon legislators have sent an EPR bill to Democratic Gov. Kate Brown for a final signature. | Noah Strycker / Shutterstock
The Oregon House and Senate last week approved a bill establishing extended producer responsibility for packaging and adding other elements to the state’s recycling system, including new requirements for MRFs and an evaluation program for product labels. Continue Reading
Eureka Recycling, one of the founding members of AMBR, operates a MRF in Minneapolis. | Photo credit: Mark Kegans
Four organizations that run recycling operations recently created the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers to advocate for recycling and zero waste policies during a period of “systemic changes.”
With the planned upgrade, sorted and processed plastics will be converted into a plastic lumber inside Firstar’s facility. | jantsarik / Shutterstock
Firstar Fiber is receiving a loan from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste that will help the processor convert hard-to-recycle plastics into building materials, all within the confines of the MRF.
MRF operators shared their insights in a session at this year’s Resource Recycling Conference, held virtually in August.
Running a successful MRF means adapting to a changing stream, investing to upgrade equipment and navigating end market uncertainty. Three prominent MRF leaders recently shared how they’re approaching these challenges.
A new EPA research report runs through how a typical MRF might encounter and handle lithium-ion batteries, and how fires can be sparked. | silabob / Shutterstock
Lithium-ion battery fires are affecting all types of waste management and recycling facilities. But the U.S. EPA recently concluded that the municipal recycling sector has it worse than others.
A jury’s decision means the city of New Bedford, Mass. does not owe the $2 million in damages sought by ABC Disposal. | Zolnierek / Shutterstock
The city of New Bedford, Mass. has won its years-long dispute with waste management company ABC Disposal over recycling fees.
Waste Management’s overall recycling collection dropped slightly from 2019 to 2020. | Courtesy of Waste Management
A report from Waste Management describes how the pandemic shifted the composition of the curbside stream from paper to plastic last year. The document also provides insights into the company’s domestic market expectations and recycling investments.
Food and beverage cartons are not accepted in curbside recycling in a number of large municipalities in Massachusetts. | Velour Noire / Shutterstock
When MRF operators sat down with Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection officials in 2018 to develop a non-mandated accepted recyclables list, cartons didn’t make the cut.
Recycle Ann Arbor secured $6 million in financing to essentially rebuild the MRF, which was first constructed as a dual-stream facility in 1995 and was retrofitted for single-stream sorting in 2009. | Courtesy of Recycle Ann Arbor.
Economic uncertainty is a given in recycling right now, but Recycle Ann Arbor has two points of stability beneath the facility project it’s pushing forward: Processing costs are covered, and fiber bales have a guaranteed home.
OCC makes up about one-quarter of outbound tons from MRFs, according to NERC’s formula. | mann7429/Shutterstock
Northeastern MRFs say the recyclables they produced during the second quarter were worth more than they were during the first three months of the year.