
O-I Vice President of Global Sustainability Jim Nordmeyer welcomed a crowd of 50 participants to the Texas Glass Recycling Workshop.

O-I Vice President of Global Sustainability Jim Nordmeyer welcomed a crowd of 50 participants to the Texas Glass Recycling Workshop.

Teton County, Wyo. handles about 4,500 tons of recyclables per year. | Carson Meyer Photography
Each year, as many as 3 million visitors come through Teton County, Wyo., drawn in large part by the area’s scenic destinations. With so many out-of-towners coming through, local recycling coordinators have to stay on their toes when it comes to outreach and education.

The cost of insurance is on the rise for those in the business of materials recovery. | Billion Photos/Shutterstock
Recycling professionals are well aware that prices for many commodities are low and contamination rates are high. But due to the rising number of fires in recent years, materials recovery facility (MRF) operators are now encountering struggles around another area of their businesses: insurance.

Even as the vast majority of municipalities have not made changes to recycling service, the coronavirus impact has been felt in programs around the country. | VO IMAGES/Shutterstock
The global escalation of COVID-19 is hampering some North American recycling programs, impacting Chinese users of U.S. recovered fiber, constraining global shipping, denting stock prices and threatening an economic recession.

Boise’s EnergyBag program has explored a number of alternative processing options while awaiting Renewlogy’s upgrades. | Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
A program collecting hard-to-recycle plastics in Idaho’s largest city has been without a solid market for about a year since downstream outlet Renewlogy stopped accepting loads. After an equipment supply delay due to the coronavirus, the city now says this will continue at least through the summer.

CalRecycle is set to award nearly $16 million to six composting and anaerobic digestion projects. | Jan Vaclav Herodes/Shutterstock
Garden State lawmakers passed a food-waste reduction bill, an industry group released tips on starting waste reduction programs, and California is set to award millions for composting and anaerobic digestion projects. Continue Reading

With newly announced process, Chinese importers can apply for tariff exemptions beginning this week. | Sumrit Tesrumphun/Shutterstock
The Chinese government will consider exempting tariffs on OCC and other recovered fiber on a company-by-company basis. Meanwhile, a tariff on U.S. recycled paper pulp shipments into China has been lifted for one year.
