An extended producer responsibility bill is currently under consideration in California. | Luis M. Seco/Shutterstock
This story has been corrected.
Nearly a dozen legislators signed a letter asking to remove fiber from California’s proposed extended producer responsibility bill, as it undergoes more amendments in the final days before a June 29 deadline.
India, Mexico and Vietnam are still the top three destinations for U.S. OCC and paper in the first quarter of 2022. | Siwakorn1933/Shutterstock
U.S. exports of recovered fiber held relatively steady during the first quarter of 2022, but scrap plastic shipments plunged by more than one-fifth. Continue Reading
AF&PA data notes that in 2021 about 80% of U.S. paper mills used some recycled paper and about one-third used only recycled paper. | noomcpk/Shutterstock
The U.S. paper and OCC recycling rates for 2021 were 68.0% and 91.4%, higher than the previous year, the American Forest & Paper Association announced in a press conference May 24.
OSHA issued two dozen violations against Central Paper Stock, Inc. | Justin Foster/Shutterstock
The federal government is fining a St. Louis recycling facility $261,000 after an employee was crushed to death in a paper baler last fall.
Paper recycling has moved to the center of the EPR debate in Colorado. | olephoto/Shutterstock
Municipal recycling advocates and the fiber manufacturing industry are at odds over a producer responsibility proposal in Colorado, underscoring a major rift in the push for stronger recycling policy.
Food and beverage cartons are not accepted in curbside recycling in a number of large municipalities in Massachusetts. | Velour Noire / Shutterstock
When MRF operators sat down with Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection officials in 2018 to develop a non-mandated accepted recyclables list, cartons didn’t make the cut.
A recycling facility in West Babylon, N.Y. installed a large optical sorter that has increased OCC throughput and quality. | Courtesy of Van Dyk
Several materials recovery facilities across North America and the U.K. recently announced upgrades or other major projects. The initiatives include optical sorter installations targeting fiber and plastic, advanced artificial intelligence plans and more.
A leader with Waste Connections said that his company has seen increased collection volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic. | Resource Recycling file photo.
Two large publicly held waste and recycling companies are taking in higher residential volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they say contamination has been flat. Recently, they’ve also started seeing critical upticks on the commercial side.
Crossroads Paper CEO John Sasine speaks at an event July 10 announcing the paper mill. | Credit: Brenden Brunnette.
A containerboard mill using entirely OCC and mixed paper is in development in Utah. The project stands as a rare case of a recycling company expanding into the end market sector.
