Industry Announcements

November 2018

The Alameda County Waste Management Authority (StopWaste) will use $263,000 in local grant funds to employ Compology’s camera-based dumpster monitoring technology to reduce contamination in the commercial compost stream and reduce organics disposal.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) highlighted a new study that found replacing plastic with alternative materials in packaging would cause negative environmental impacts.

Busch Systems is one of the Top 10 finalists for the 2018 Private Business Growth Award, which recognizes growing Canadian businesses.

The Coast Waste Management Association (CWMA) announced that its executive director, Will Burrows, will resign at the end of the year.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) is accepting entries for its 2019 Design for Recycling award.

The Electronics Recycling Action Group of Recycle Colorado is conducting a survey regarding illegal dumping of electronics and related issues.

Sierra International Machinery broke ground on a 24,000-square-foot expansion to the company’s manufacturing facility in Jesup, Ga.

CP Group will present its Virtual MRF virtual reality simulation system for the first time internationally at the Residuos Expo 2018 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The National Recycling Coalition (NRC) elected its 2018 board of directors and announced the recipients of its annual awards.

A New York State appellate court upheld New York City’s right to ban expanded polystyrene products. The decision came after the city was sued last fall for the second time over its ban.

PaintCare received the 2018 Environmental Sustainability Leadership Award at the annual conference of the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC).

The Global Recycling Standards Organization, which administers the the Recycling Industry Operating Standard (RIOS), elected Darrell Hogan as its chairman for a two-year term. Hogan is vice president of global operations and compliance at AER Worldwide.

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) announced new members of its Executive Committee, an advisory group elected from the organization’s broader membership.

Tomra Sorting Recycling installed two sensor-based sorters at the Buffalo, N.Y. metal sorting plant operated by Wendt Corporation.

Composting company Vanguard Renewables was named the 2018 Organics Recycler of the Year by the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA).

Online scrap material trading platform Waste-Outlet.com announced its launch.

Equipment manufacturer Weima announced that sales manager Bill Zoller died Oct. 29 after a battle with cancer.

October 2018

Kellogg announced its goal to work toward 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by the end of 2025.

Cannabis business KushCo Holdings joined the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC).

Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, which manages that state’s container deposit program, was honored for its refillable bottle program during the Glass Packaging Institute’s annual Clear Choice Awards.

PepsiCo announced a goal to use 25 percent recycled content in its plastic packaging by 2025.

Fiber company Sustana hired Kevin Richard as the company’s chief operating officer.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment introduced Colorado NextCycle, a program that provides funding, expertise and economic data to businesses, communities, universities and startups interested in turning recovered materials into marketable products.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signed a joint agency formal agreement under the Winning on Reducing Food Waste initiative.

J.M. Smucker Company will adopt the How2Recycle label, starting in early 2019 with Folgers coffee packaging.

Keep America Beautiful has put out information on participating in America Recycles Day on Nov. 15 and taking the #BeRecycled Pledge.

The Washington State Recycling Association (WSRA) announced that its executive director, Anne Piacentino, will leave the post at the end of October.

Casella Waste Systems acquired the assets of WeCare Waste & Recycling and Valley Sanitation, residential and commercial collectors in New York.

Amazon invested $10 million into the Closed Loop Fund.

CP Group introduced the CP Anti-Wrap Screen, which separates newsprint and large fiber. The equipment is the second new screen the company has released this year.

The Foodservice Packaging Institute released a study that found compostable packaging to be an effective feedstock in commercial composting facilities.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) commissioned a poll to gauge recycling behavior and attitudes among the public. The poll found respondents believe recycling needs to be made easier in order to increase recycling rates.

Lakeshore Recycling Systems of Illinois acquired Royal Container Service, a southern Wisconsin hauler.

The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio launched an initiative to reduce food waste.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed bills requiring restaurants to provide straws only upon request; prohibiting non-recyclable and non-compostable food packaging at parks, beaches, colleges and fairgrounds; and initiating a statewide microplastics strategy.

The Colorado Association for Recycling (CAFR) has changed its name to Recycle Colorado.

J.P. Mascaro & Sons announced that its Totalrecycle MRF has been awarded a contract to sort recyclables from the 52 municipalities in surrounding Chester County, Pa.

The National League of Cities released a report with advice for municipalities on adjusting their recycling programs to remain viable amid the current market downturn.

The NextGen Consortium announced the NextGen Cup Challenge, which calls on students, innovators, suppliers, designers and other stakeholders to help redesign single-use paper cups for recyclability and compostability.

Stuffed animal manufacturer Service Systems Associates announced its core plush animal line will use fill made from 100 percent recycled PET beginning in January 2019.

Tomra published an e-book about the deinking process and how it must adapt to meet increasing commercial and regulatory pressure for generating deinked pulp.

September 2018

A study supported by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and conducted by The City College of New York found that plastics help drive down MSW generation despite increasing per capita income and consumption.

The city of Anchorage, Alaska has passed a ban on plastic bags, to go into effect March 1, 2019.

BACE, a manufacturer of balers and compactors, issued a press release stating its IntelliPACT Platform for Compactors makes material reductions in expenses incurred by customers.

Recycling equipment company Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) named Matthias Erdmannsdoerfer managing director of Max-AI.

The Circular Economy Leadership Coalition has been formed by the following major companies and groups operating in Canada: IKEA Canada, Institut EDDEC, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Loblaw Companies, National Zero Waste Council, NEI Investments, Smart Prosperity Institute, The Natural Step Canada, Unilever Canada and Walmart Canada.

New investment firm Circulate Capital announced the launch of The Incubator Network by Circulate Capital and SecondMuse, an initiative to accelerate solutions to ocean plastic waste.

TerraCycle launched a mail-in recycling program with eos Products, which makes lip balms, shave creams and hand and body lotions.

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) reported on arrests made over the summer in beverage container smuggling schemes.

Recycling equipment company Herbold Meckesheim USA reports a major fire broke out at its Meckesheim, Germany facility, but operations will continue with minimal disruptions.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) hired Scott Wiggins as its vice president of EH&S.

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) joined the Road to Zero Coalition, an effort led by the National Safety Council in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation to end road fatalities by 2050.

Nonprofit group Recycle Across America launched a national “Let’s recycle right!” advertising campaign featuring actors, athletes, musicians, CEOs, government officials and others.

Market research firm Smithers Pira released a report offering forecasts for recycling, recovery and reuse of packaging globally in the next five years.

Solid waste services company WCA Waste Corporation has expanded into the Houston market with its merger with Global Waste Services, which runs the largest independently owned MRF in the city.

Casella Waste Systems has acquired waste and recycling companies Youngblood Disposal and Silvarole Transfer, both of which are located in Rochester, N.Y.

The Institute of Local Self-Reliance published an article analyzing the current state of single-stream recycling programs and consolidation within the industry.

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) formed a committee to support development of markets for some troubled streams of recyclables, including mixed paper, glass and Nos. 3-7 plastics.

NRT has integrated the BHS Max-AI artificial intelligence technology with NRT’s optical sorting equipment.

The Recycling Partnership has released an online quiz to help program leaders gauge the strength of recycling efforts in their communities. The organization also, in partnership with Re-TRAC Connect, launched the first phase of the Municipal Measurement Program. A preliminary version of the program will be shown at the 2018 Resource Recycling Conference in October.

Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC) and the U.S. EPA Region 4 have released tools that help local governments in the Southeast analyze their recycling programs.

Rubicon Global has published the latest episode of its Town Haul podcast, featuring Kathryn Garcia, commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation.

TemperPack, which makes insulated shipping materials, announced its ClimaCell product has been qualified to use the How2Recycle label.

The Advancing Towards Zero Waste Declaration project announced that eight U.S. cities and a number of international urban areas pledged to cut waste sent to disposal by 50 percent, reduce per-capita generation by 15 percent and achieve 70 percent diversion rates by 2030.

Keep America Beautiful kicked off its eighth annual Recycle-Bowl, a four-week recycling competition for students around the country.

Equipment manufacturer McCloskey International acquired Lippmann-Milwaukee, a manufacturer of aggregate crushing equipment.

Mid America Paper Recycling hired Paul Pirkle as company president.

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) released the first report on their progress since they teamed up on a strategic action plan.

Recycle Across America will collaborate with a handful of recycling receptacle manufacturers to use standardized labels on their products, an effort to reduce confusion among the public.

Schupan & Sons hired Drew Kocsis and Ryan Limburg to its Chicago-based Materials Trading Division, which trades a multitude of recyclables.

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) approved a technical policy that addresses recycling metrics and measurement.