Lawmakers in Maine are considering two bills that each establish extended producer responsibility programs covering packaging of all material types, but with key differences in program management. | Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock
Two state proposals under consideration in the Northeast get at a central question of extended producer responsibility programs for packaging: Should the government or private industry have more control?
An idled newsprint mill in Washington state was auctioned recently, and the new owner may convert the plant so that it consumes post-consumer fiber. | safakcakir / Shutterstock
Plans are in the early stages to reopen a shuttered Washington state newsprint mill and convert it for packaging production using recycled fiber.
Waste Management’s recycling business revenues came in at $342 million during the first quarter, up 35% year over year. | 2p2play / Shutterstock
Higher commodity prices drove year-over-year recycling revenue increases for North America’s largest garbage and recycling companies.
Prices for curbside plastic bales shot up over the past month, with PET bottles jumping by nearly one-third and natural HDPE notching another record.
A new coalition will advocate for expanded diversion of food waste from landfill. | maerzkind / Shutterstock
Organics processing stakeholders have created a coalition to advocate for expanding America’s composting infrastructure.
Researchers estimate over 74 billion PET bottles were landfilled, burned or littered in the U.S. in 2019. | Teerasak Ladnongkhun / Shutterstock
This story has been updated and corrected.
A new report estimates that a nationwide bottle deposit program would reduce the number of drink containers each American wastes to 67 per year, down from 426 under the status quo.
Readers last month were drawn to news of the latest example of the industry trend of fires caused by improperly disposed batteries and electronics. | BlurAZ/Shutterstock
News about a battery fire that shut down a city’s MRF drew readers last month, along with a mix of stories touching on markets, policies and investments.
The Evergreen facility in Ohio will expand and increase production of food-grade RPET. | Courtesy of Evergreen
Evergreen has launched a project to double its food-grade recycled PET (RPET) plastic capacity to 80 million pounds per year. A company leader noted the initiative harnesses “the latest and greatest technology.”
