Pyrolysis equipment inside the Agilyx facility in Oregon. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Pyrolysis equipment inside the Agilyx facility in Oregon. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Readers last year were drawn to news that Brightmark is seeking over 1,000,000 tons of difficult-to-recycle plastics for chemical recycling. | hiv360/Shutterstock
Economic uncertainty and operational changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic affected virtually every business sector in 2020, and the recycling industry certainly felt the impacts. But materials recovery professionals were also navigating ongoing volatility in commodities markets, heightened awareness of plastics management problems, and much more.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows 43 workers suffered fatal injuries on the job in 2019. | Sepp photography/Shutterstock
Forty-three garbage and recycling collection workers were killed on the job in 2019, fewer than the prior year but still more than the average over the past several years.
The Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) insisted chaos would ensue if Republic Services shut down the MRF, which sorts and markets hundreds of tons of recyclables each day. | Tiko Aramyan/Shutterstock
A Connecticut court has ruled that Republic Services can’t terminate a contract and shut down a MRF while the company’s dispute with a recycling authority is appealed.
Circulate Capital invested in Dalmia Polypro Industries, a plastic bottle recycling company based in Mumbai, India. | Courtesy of Circulate Capital.
The U.S. and Europe have had formal recycling infrastructure in place for decades. That’s not the case in India, where Circulate Capital just invested millions of dollars to boost infrastructure and reduce ocean plastics generation.
A Resource Recycling analysis shows that 1,116 companies identified as “materials recovery facilities” and 4,300 companies identified as “recyclable material merchant wholesalers” received Paycheck Protection Program funds this year. | NIKCOA/Shutterstock
Over $850 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds flowed to MRF operators and recyclables trading companies this year, according to data released following a court order.
A lawsuit from Greenpeace seeks to force Walmart to change its labeling and conduct a “corrective” advertising campaign. | nitpicker/Shutterstock
Environmental activist group Greenpeace this week accused Walmart of falsely labeling items as recyclable and asked a California court to compel the retailer to stop making the claims.
As the year comes to a close, MRFs are largely seeing good news across the board, fetching higher prices for OCC, mixed paper, aluminum, natural HDPE and other materials.
Because the U.S. is not a party to the Basel Convention, exports to the 180-plus countries that are parties to the convention will be more complicated, or may even be prohibited by local laws. | AnkaFed/Shutterstock
The U.S. government has made public an agreement with Canada to continue scrap plastic shipments despite global regulations tightening next year. Environmental advocates are troubled by the deal.
Since its launch in May 2019, Loop has attracted more than 100 brands, and its durable packaging is used in some 400 products. | Courtesy of Loop.
Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and other investors have put $25 million behind Loop, a packaging reuse model that launched last year.