The two companies will stop selling products in Minnesota for two and a half years, can re-enter the market only if bags are clearly marked as non-recyclable, and will pay more than $200,000.
Walmart and Reynolds Consumer Products have reached settlements with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office in a lawsuit over marketing language for bags labeled as “recycling bags.” Continue Reading
Swedish app Bower was selected for a six-month Google.org fellowship and $1.9 million in funding to further develop its recycling app. | Photo Courtesy of Bower
With the help of a Google program, Swedish recycling app Bower is expanding its AI-visioning model worldwide, aiming for a world without waste. Continue Reading
Amazon largely focused on its efforts to reduce plastic use, such as substituting recycled paper for flexible fillers and making packaging suitable for curbside collection. | Skorzewiak/Shutterstock
In its 2023 sustainability report, global retail powerhouse Amazon highlighted its efforts to reduce packaging materials and to make its packaging suitable for curbside collection but provided few details on PCR usage. Continue Reading
The Petaluma Reusable Cup Project is supported by the NextGen Consortium, Zero Waste Sonoma, Recology and more than 30 brands and restaurants. | Photo courtesy Closed Loop Partners
The NextGen Consortium is bringing together brands big and small to trial a city-wide reusable cup system in Petaluma, California. Continue Reading
The U.S. Plastics Pact reported that by the end of 2022, pact signatories had increased PCR use from 7% to 9.4%. | XXL Photo/Shutterstock
The U.S. Plastics Pact recently unveiled the goals its signatories will strive for during the next five years. Most of the goals build on the efforts over the past five years, and the group’s target date to hit 30% average recycled content has been extended from 2025 to 2030. Continue Reading
Colgate-Palmolive said several challenges may require work beyond 2025, the target date for many of its sustainability goals. | Ungvar/Shutterstock
As the 2025 sustainability deadlines set by many brands get closer, another global heavyweight has announced that it will likely miss some of its target goals. Continue Reading
Global consumer products company Unilever announced it will revise its sustainability goals, but also said the experience had shown that policy is needed to make real change. | DeawSS/Shutterstock
Unilever recently acknowledged it will miss its 2025 target date for key plastics recycling goals and revised its pledge to reflect that reality – but the company’s head of packaging also said the failure contributed to its support for stronger regulations like extended producer responsibility. Continue Reading
During a webinar hosted by The Recycling Partnership and Resource Recycling’s Policy Now, stakeholders zeroed in on the components that make effective recycling policy. | Picsfive/Shutterstock
As conversations around extended producer responsibility for packaging continue to evolve, it has become clear legislation can include a wide range of components and targets. A group of policy experts recently offered thoughts on how to best bring the pieces together.
The complaint argues that marketing the tubes as recyclable is false and misleading. | George W. Bailey/Shutterstock
A lawsuit over Colgate-Palmolive marketing its Tom’s of Maine and Colgate brand toothpaste tubes as recyclable is moving forward. Continue Reading
U.S. states with container deposit programs have the highest recycling rates in the country, according to new research. | Aleks333/Shutterstock
A report from Eunomia Research and Consulting found that nine of the 10 states with the highest recycling rates have deposit return systems, and that bottle bill states also contribute a higher percentage of packaging that is recycled in the U.S. Continue Reading