The latest Greenpeace report challenges the viability of U.S. plastics recycling. | MuhammadAzman/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
An updated report from Greenpeace USA maintains that no plastics in the U.S. actually meet the definition of recyclable and calls for companies to switch to other materials.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) created the Recycling Industry Operating Standard (RIOS) to promote environmental consciousness and ensure MRF workers’ health and safety. | MichaelFelixPhotography/Shutterstock
Looking to support employees and set a higher bar for quality, Oregon-based Far West Recycling certified its northeast Portland facility to the Recycling Industry Operating Standard. It is the first MRF to do so.
In light of last year’s high, bale prices in recent months look especially bleak. | Huguette Roe/Shutterstock
Northeastern U.S. MRFs reported their recyclables bales fetched an average of $100 per ton during the third quarter, a steep drop from the prior quarter. Continue Reading
Hosted by the Northeast Recycling Council, the 2022 National Recycling Congress was held virtually on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10. | Orhan Cam/Shutterstock
Model extended producer responsibility bills and federal funding were two hot topics at the 2022 National Recycling Congress, with panelists calling for packaging reduction and a broad overhaul of the recycling system. Continue Reading
The second year in which COVID-19 cases in the workplace were reported, 2021 saw a steep decline in the illness rate for solid waste collection workers. | Joyseulay/Shutterstock
According to federal data, the waste and recycling industry injury rate fell in 2021, bringing it to the lowest point since 2006. Continue Reading
A total of $1.17 million for recycling companies came as part of a larger $3.2 million round of funding in the latest installment of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. | Tada Images/Shutterstock
An AI-powered robotic sortation system, a glass-to-cement company and a zero waste software maker all received small business grants from the U.S. EPA.
The Bureau of International Recycling says recycling companies in Europe and elsewhere are struggling with high energy prices. | Hanna Taniukevich/Shutterstock
An international group is sounding an alarm for help for the recycling industry amid high costs, particularly for energy. Continue Reading
Recovery facilities in California face a number of changes in the wake of legislative updates. | gavrilhurgoi/Shutterstock
Amid a flurry of bills at the end of California’s legislative session, lawmakers passed $1.3 billion in recycling spending and made a number of key policy changes. A recent webinar hinted at what the changes may mean for MRFs.
Thermoforms such as those shown here often contain post-consumer material from bottles, but a California bill would require post-consumer thermoforms to be used in production of new thermoforms. | Anakumka/Shutterstock
Current debate over a California bill requiring PET thermoforms to contain recycled PET derived from thermoforms boils down to one question: What will MRFs do?
Fiber insiders Ryan Fox (left) and Myles Cohen on stage at the 2022 Resource Recycling Conference. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling, Inc.
This story has been updated
Two corrugated industry experts have crunched the numbers and concluded that the OCC recycling rate is likely much lower than estimates published by the paper manufacturing sector.