Graphic Packaging closed down its Santa Clara, Calif. facility in early December. Photo: Google Maps
Graphic Packaging closed its Santa Clara, Calif. recycled paperboard mill at the beginning of December, citing high costs and market volatility as contributing to the decision.
Less than one-quarter of the fiber used last year by consumer products company Kimberly-Clark came from recycled sources, the lowest percentage in at least six years.
Republic Services reported higher recycling revenues during the third quarter, and it expects its acquisition of MRF operator ReCommunity will boost tonnages it processes by about half going forward.
When it began facing constricted fiber exports to China, Waste Management adapted by selling into alternative markets. As a result, it has been able to avoid stockpiling or landfilling recyclables, company CEO Jim Fish said.
A federal grand jury has indicted a Wisconsin man on charges he fraudulently obtained millions of dollars for his planned recycling business.
The U.S. OCC market plummeted last week as China substantially slows its recovered material imports. Inside China, the lack of import capability has driven domestic OCC prices sky high.
For Sonoco Recycling, which collects, sorts, and sells recycled materials, China’s imports restrictions have particularly stung in one area: mixed-paper bales.
A Canadian recycling company has been fined for violating a fair wage policy in Toronto and must pay back wages to hundreds of employees.
DJ VanDeusen of WestRock speaks at the Resource Recycling Conference.
Some of the key recovered commodities generated by materials recovery facilities have been fetching high prices lately, including aluminum and fibers. But China’s import restrictions have introduced an element of the unknown in the market.
Global packaging producer Sonoco recycled the equivalent of 57 percent of the packaging it placed on the market last year.