Industry Announcements
Resource Recycling highlights the latest announcements from industry companies and organizations. For information on submitting press releases or contributing op-eds to us, review our FAQ page.
Resource Recycling highlights the latest announcements from industry companies and organizations. For information on submitting press releases or contributing op-eds to us, review our FAQ page.
GFL Environmental cancelled its planned initial public offering after reportedly falling short of its target share price.
The New York City Council passed commercial franchise legislation that divides the city into at least 20 commercial waste zones.
The Quebec Environment Department will add household appliances to its extended producer responsibility program.
The Responsible Battery Coalition and Argonne National Laboratory partnered on a research project exploring battery design for recyclability.
Sims Metal Management, which is the parent company for Sims Municipal Recycling, published its 2019 sustainability report.
The Recycling Partnership officially launched its Pathway to Recyclability initiative, which will explore some of the needs outlined in the organization’s Bridge to Circularity report.
The Worcester Polytechnic Institute began a $2.5 million study to develop robotics for recycling centers.
The California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) announced the winners of its 2019 Arrow Awards.
Keep America Beautiful chose the American Chemistry Council (ACC) as its 2019 Vision for America Award recipient.
The Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) released a report on landfill tipping fees, noting that they increased by an average of 5.2% from April 2018 to April 2019.
Nestlé Waters North America introduced a line of DC Comics-themed 100% RPET water bottles.
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) announced the winners of its 2019 Environmental Sustainability Leadership Awards.
Waste Connections and Waste Management each released their 2019 sustainability reports, which include details on materials recycled and greenhouse gas impacts.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is now accepting applications for the second season of Colorado NextCycle, a state-funded incentive program designed to encourage businesses to make products from recovered commodities, such as recyclables or organic materials, instead of using new materials.
Gerber partnered with TerraCycle to launch a recycling program for baby food packaging.
Paint stewardship group PaintCare is celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
Recycle Track Systems acquired recycling rewards program Recyclebank.
Mixed-waste MRF operator RePower South will accept single-stream recyclables from Charleston County, S.C.
Cleveland Vibrator Company released a white paper about selecting vibratory feeders for industrial applications.
CP Group and Balcones Resources released details on their recent retrofit of the Balcones single-stream MRF in Austin, Texas.
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) launched ZeroWasteWorld.org.
Graphic Packaging International introduced a recyclable paperboard packaging product to hold cans, an alternative to plastic six-pack carriers.
The National Recycling Coalition and the California Resource Recovery Association will host a recycling market development workshop next month in Chula Vista, Calif.
Waste Reduction Week in Canada is being held this week.
Athens Services announced that its Sun Valley MRF in north Los Angeles has reached more than three years and counting with no lost-time injuries.
U.K. waste management firm Biffa called for a ban on exporting plastics from the U.K. An export ban, the company asserted, would encourage domestic plastics recycling.
Clorox announced a number of sustainability pledges, including that the company will cut its virgin plastic use in half by 2030.
Closed Loop Partners invested in Algramo, a Chilean company that promotes a vending machine and dispenser system that eschew single-use packaging.
The Foodservice Packaging Institute announced that Natha Dempsey will serve as the association’s president beginning Nov. 1, replacing longtime leader Lynn Dyer. Dempsey currently serves as vice president.
The second International E-Waste Day was held on Oct. 14, featuring activities by organizations around the world to promote proper electronics recycling.
NSF International began developing a “Recycled Material Standard” on behalf of environmental organization GreenBlue, which oversees the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition launched the Protective Packaging Design Challenge.
Unilever pledged to reduce its plastic packaging by half, eliminating more than 100,000 metric tons of the materials. The company also vowed to accelerate its use of recycled plastic.
The End of Waste Foundation completed the first project using its “Blockchain Waste Traceability Software,” which collects and reports data to track recycled glass as it moves through the recycling chain.
The Foam Recycling Coalition awarded the Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCRRA) of Michigan a $50,000 grant to buy a foam densifier.
The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) announced several promotions to fill the positions of chief operating officer, chief counsel and chief of staff.
Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Resource Recycling, Plastics Recycling Update and E-Scrap News, created an FAQ page for people interested in submitting press releases and op-eds for publication.
The Recycling Partnership launched a Film and Flexibles Task Force, with Amazon, Dow, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble serving as anchor funders and advisors.
Closed Loop Partners announced that six companies graduated from the NextGen Circular Business Accelerator ready to scale their sustainable cup solutions.
The U.S. EPA is accepting applications for the 2019 America Recycles Innovation Fair. In addition, the agency is accepting nominations for the 2020 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) posted a video of President Trump’s visit to Pratt Industries’ new mill in Indiana.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) issued its Draft 2020-2030 Solid Waste Master Plan and opened a public comment on the document.
The National Recycling Coalition (NRC) announced its 2019-20 board of directors and the re-election of Mid America Recycling’s Mick Barry as NRC Chair.
Michael Durfor, recently retired executive director of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association, was recognized by the U.S. EPA for his work to protect New England’s environment.
A report commissioned by the Recycling Council of Alberta found the province’s recycling sector generated $700 million in economic value and supported over 7,500 direct jobs last year.
The NextGen Consortium, which is advancing recyclable and compostable cup designs, selected Jain Chem’s Ulterion coatings to participate in the project.
PepsiCo Recycling and author Jeff Kinney began a recycling outreach campaign geared towards children and young adults, called “Be Awesome! Recycle!”
Wilson Sporting Goods introduced the Triniti tennis ball, which comes in packaging that is made from recycled materials and is fully recyclable.
America Recycles Day, which will be observed with nationwide events on and in the weeks surrounding Nov. 15, opened its events registration.
Tool manufacturer Stanley Black & Decker joined the How2Recycle label program.
The U.S. EPA announced the recipients of the Federal Green Challenge Awards, including federal agencies recognized for electronics.
Van Dyk Recycling Solutions and the Association of Plastic Recyclers will hold a training conference on design-for-recyclability at the Van Dyk Technology and Material Test Center in Norwalk, Conn.
Vecoplan broke ground on a plant that will manufacture shredding trucks for the information destruction industry.
Manufacturer Ball Corporation rolled out a pilot project bringing aluminum cups to major entertainment and sports venues around the U.S. this fall.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill encouraging communities to shift toward dual-stream recycling in an effort to clean up the state’s recycling stream.
Consumer goods manufacturer Henkel hosted U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at the company’s Stamford, Conn. headquarters to discuss sustainability commitments and plastic packaging developments.
TerraCycle and Walmart will hold a car seat recycling event.
The Recycling Partnership began offering DIYSigns, free online signage templates that can be customized to fit local recycling program needs. The organization also extended the deadline to participate in its 2019 State of Curbside Recycling Survey. Responses can be submitted through Sept. 6.
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste appointed Jacob Duer, who helped lead the United Nations Environment Programme, as its first president and CEO.
Hasbro will phase out plastic from its toy and game packaging.
Leadpoint Business Services, which provides work teams and operations support services to the recycling industry, restructured its recycling operations group and announced new roles for four of its leadership team members.
A services provider for recovered paper traders, merQbiz, became the exclusive North American distributor of BaleVision, a tool that provides detailed information on paper bale composition.
Aluminum recycling and rolling company Novelis pledged $2.5 million to launch the Novelis Innovation Hub at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
A majority interest of Shred-Tech was acquired by Heico, a holding company.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) Plastics Division praised the passage of legislation in Illinois and Ohio that will “pave the way for greater adoption” of chemical recycling technologies.
Government leaders in Ontario, Canada announced the Blue Box Program will transition to a full producer responsibility system by 2023.
The Carton Council published its findings that Americans are still recycling at the same level, despite having less confidence that the materials actually get recycled.
ERI and the New York City Department of Sanitation announced that their curbside electronics recycling program has collected 1,700 tons and now serves more than 2.5 million residents.
Keurig Dr Pepper aims to have 30% post-consumer content across its packaging portfolio by 2025.
The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) released its tally of at least 30 solid waste worker deaths in the U.S. and Canada so far in 2019.
The Carolinas Plastics Recycling Council (CPRC) and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) will hold a joint meeting focused on plastics recycling, to be held Nov. 7-8 in Ft. Mill, S.C.
Investment management firm Circulate Capital opened a Singapore office and announced that CEO Rob Kaplan is relocating to the Southeast Asian country.
Coca-Cola announced that its Dasani bottled water brand will be sold in aluminum cans in the Northeast beginning this fall. The cans will be used in additional markets next year.
The Container Recycling Institute published a response to the closure of rePlanet, California’s largest operator of container redemption centers.
The North Carolina Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service (DEACS) announced the Recycle Right NC campaign, an outreach effort to reduce contamination this fall.
Sonoco, a hauler, MRF operator and packaging producer, published its 2018-19 corporate sustainability report. Sonoco also appointed Palace Stepps as vice president of the company’s recycling division to replace Mike Pope, who will oversee perimeter-of-the-store plastics.
The End of Waste Foundation, a glass recycling support organization using blockchain technology, announced that a winery is using its platform. The End of Waste Foundation also partnered with recycling company Ripple Glass.
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) published a rebuttal to a recent NPR Planet Money report questioning the value of recycling.
The Recycling Partnership launched its 2019 State of Curbside Recycling Survey.
ZenRobotics installed four robots at Zanker Recycling, a C&D sorting facility in San Jose, Calif.
Alpek Polyester, a major PET producer and recycler, joined The Recycling Partnership.
Compology upgraded its container content and contamination identification technology, giving its artificial intelligence cameras the ability to identify an expanded list of recyclable items.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched a learning hub.
The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) appointed Scott DeFife as its president. DeFife most recently served as vice president of government affairs at the Plastics Industry Association.
The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) released its annual report noting U.S. fiberglass insulation manufacturers used 2.2 billion pounds of glass cullet in 2018, similar to the weight used in 2017.
The city of Portland, Ore. published recycling outreach tools, including bilingual websites listing recyclable items.
The Product Stewardship Institute released a Packaging EPR Toolkit.
Californians for Recycling and the Environment, a coalition of product manufacturers, has launched to educate and advocate around controversial legislation in the state legislature: Senate Bill 54 and Assembly Bill 1080.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched a learning hub.
The Paper Stock Industries (PSI) chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) announced academic scholarships for eight college-bound students. Additionally, ISRI gave its inaugural Recycling Impact Award to Montana Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney.
Scheuch USA appointed John Rothermel as president at industrial ventilation systems company Schust, and it appointed Tony Thill as president of CAMCORP, which makes air pollution control and pneumatic conveying equipment. Scheuch is the parent company of both firms.
The South Bayside Waste Management Authority (RethinkWaste) of San Mateo County, Calif. issued nearly $49 million in bonds for upgrades to the Shoreway Environmental Center, which includes a MRF.
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) has a dozen new members: EQUATE Petrochemical, Gemini Corporation, Grupo Phoenix, Mondi, Novolex, PepsiCo, Sealed Air Corporation, Sinopec, SKC, Storopack, TOMRA and Westlake Chemical.
Circulate Capital announced that Susan Ruffo will serve as executive director of the new nonprofit group The Circulate Initiative.
Tissue products company Kimberly-Clark announced that 25.2% of the fiber it consumed came from recycled sources, the highest in three years.
The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) will expand its government affairs team on the state and federal levels.
PepsiCo will package its LIFEWTR water product in 100% recycled PET bottles, and the company will end plastic bottle packaging for its Bubly sparkling water, sticking to aluminum cans. The company will also test aluminum can packaging for Aquafina, which currently comes in plastic bottles.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. EPA are holding free workshops around the country on safely handling lithium-ion batteries.
Casella Waste Systems will purchase certain solid waste assets from fellow hauler Republic Services, totaling about $30 million in annual revenue.
The Corrugated Packaging Alliance released a life cycle analysis study that found neither corrugated containers nor reusable plastic containers are superior in all environmental impact categories.
Toronto-based GFL Environmental will acquire MRF operator Canada Fibers.
Paper and recycling industry veteran Jerry Rose died June 22 at age 84. Consultancy Moore & Associates published an obituary and tribute to Rose.
The National Recycling Coalition announced a call for nominations for the group’s series of 2019 industry awards, which will be presented at the Resource Recycling Conference Aug. 26-28 in New Orleans. Nominations are due Aug. 1.
The NYC Curb-To-Market Challenge (CTMC), which launched in March, named recovered plastics end user Arqlite and consultancy Anthropocene.Design as the winners of the contest.
The Recycling Partnership released a contamination outreach kit for use at drop-off recycling sites.
Waste Management opened the company’s second Driver and Technician Training Center in Glendale, Ariz., where new employees in those positions undertake a two-week training course.