Tag Archives: industry groups

Trump admin reverses grant freeze

Published: January 28, 2025
Updated: January 31, 2025
by Dan Holtmeyer

A government-wide pause on federal assistance could affect recycling projects across the country. | Rix Pix Photography/Shutterstock

This story has been updated.

After a day of confusion and legal challenges across the country, the Trump administration cancelled a memo freezing federal grants, loans and other assistance, according to reporting from various news outlets.

A federal judge on Tuesday had temporarily halted the change shortly before it was set to go into effect.

The pause had been intended to ensure that federal spending aligns with the Trump administration’s priorities and would include previously greenlit projects, according to a White House memo released Monday and related documents. Hundreds of millions of dollars for new recycling facilities and other industry initiatives were at risk of being put on hold.

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged industry groups, local programs |

Industry association launches film drop-off guide

Published: January 23, 2025
Updated: January 23, 2025
by Colin Staub

The guide directs users to various retail and other collection sites around the U.S. that accept film for drop-off recycling. | Ivanova Tetyana/Shutterstock

Editor’s note: Learn more about film recycling trends and many other topics at the 2025 Plastics Recycling Conference on March 24-26 in National Harbor, Maryland. Continue Reading

Posted in News | Tagged challenging materials, collection, industry groups, plastics |

Outlook for OCC demand, recycling hinges on economics

Published: January 23, 2025
Updated: January 23, 2025
by Antoinette Smith

Experts from Bloomberg, TetraPak and more forecasted stable-to-higher box shipments and analyzed paper fiber recycling during a recent webinar. | Shu Ba/Shutterstock

Volumes of OCC and mixed paper are shifting with societal and economic trends, industry experts said during a paper industry update webinar presented by the Recycled Materials Association.

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged fiber, industry groups, markets |

MRF and collection worker deaths climbed in 2023

Published: January 7, 2025
Updated: January 13, 2025
by Colin Staub

Safety vests and hard hats hanging on a wall.

While overall workplace fatalities decreased in the U.S. in 2023, the waste and recycling industry was a troubling outlier. | Wave Break Media/Shutterstock

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.

Nine workers died in U.S. materials recovery facilities in 2023 and the death rate for refuse and recyclable material collectors jumped more than 80%, according to the latest annual numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged collection, industry groups, MRFs, safety |

Panelists: EPR in Minnesota part of needed change

Published: August 20, 2024
Updated: January 8, 2025
by Marissa Heffernan

Minnesota lawmakers approved an EPR bill during the 2024 legislative session, and the governor signed it into law in May. | Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

Stakeholders behind Minnesota’s successful extended producer responsibility push said it was clear that radical change was needed in the state’s recycling system, during a recent webinar. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged EPR/Stewardship, industry groups |

Producers moving toward EPR readiness

Published: January 3, 2025
Updated: January 3, 2025
by Marissa Heffernan

Despite progress, producers are largely still not ready for approaching EPR requirements, industry players predict. | Josep Curto/Shutterstock

With about six months to go until the first extended producer responsibility program for packaging in the U.S. goes live, producers are still largely unprepared but moving in the right direction, those monitoring the transition said.

Posted in News | Tagged EPR/Stewardship, industry groups, Policy Now |

UN treaty talks extended after usual roadblocks

Published: December 3, 2024
Updated: December 3, 2024
by Marissa Heffernan

On Nov. 27, the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Plastics demanded the right to speak at plenary sessions, after being denied the usual time allotted for civil society members to share their views. | Kiara Worth/International Institute for Sustainable Development

Negotiations for a global, legally-binding treaty to address plastic pollution will spill over into another meeting, but participants noted the need for a seismic shift to reach the finish line after a fifth round of United Nations negotiations splintered along similar lines as the last four.

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged industry groups, plastics, regulation/oversight |

Ellen MacArthur report: Less plastic used in 2023

Published: November 26, 2024
Updated: November 26, 2024
by Marissa Heffernan

The largest brand owners in the world together used an average of 14% post-consumer resin in their packaging last year, a 2 percentage point increase over 2022. | Photka/Shutterstock

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s 2023 report indicated a year-over-year decrease in both virgin and overall plastic use from signatory companies. That came from companies incorporating more post-consumer resin, combined with lower overall consumer demand due to economic challenges.

Posted in News | Tagged brand owners, industry groups, regulation/oversight |

Revised formula gives lower OCC recycling rate

Published: November 19, 2024
Updated: November 19, 2024
by Colin Staub

The industry group’s recycling rate now considers additional international trade data, allowing it to better capture imported material that ends up in the recycling stream. | Kyna Studio/Shutterstock

The American Forest & Paper Association has overhauled its methodology for calculating fiber recycling rates, bringing a significantly lower OCC recovery figure than the industry previously reported. Continue Reading

Posted in News, Top stories | Tagged fiber, industry groups |

How Trump administration policies could affect recycling

Published: November 13, 2024
Updated: November 13, 2024
by Colin Staub

The first Trump administration brought proposed EPA budget cuts, large tax cuts, withdrawal from international environmental agreements and more, all of which touched the recycling sector. | Orhan Cam/Shutterstock

The clear ballot-box victory of Republicans across the branches of U.S. government could affect the municipal recycling world in a number of ways. It’s early, but some signs from the past – and some recent analysis from industry observers – offer a glimpse of what’s to come.

Posted in News | Tagged industry groups, plastics, regulation/oversight |