Recent research determined that in 2019, UBCs made up 12.5% of potential revenues in MRFs in bottle bill states and 33% of potential revenues in MRFs in non-bottle-bill states. | Graham Corney/Shutterstock
Robotics and additional eddy current separators are key to maximizing sortation of used beverage cans, according to MRF operators, researchers and other experts.
Novelis consumed 2.17 million short tons of recycled aluminum in 2020. | Fotosr52/Shutterstock
Novelis saw less financial benefit from using recycled material last year due to low virgin aluminum pricing. Meanwhile, the company is experiencing recycled material supply disruptions due to COVID-19.
The recently introduced legislation covers solar panels in residential, commercial and industrial use. | Heinz Trebuth/Shutterstock
Legislation in Arizona would establish recycling requirements for end-of-life solar panels, directing manufacturers to create a recycling program or face a per-panel fee at point-of-sale.
Curbside recycling can put additional collection trucks on the road. But the recycling process ultimately brings environmental benefits that far outweigh the extra vehicle emissions, according to a study from Waste Management.
The growing smiles you see among recycling collectors and processors are because of continuing market improvement.
The value of curbside-collected paper and steel is down slightly at the start of April, though some plastics have experienced boosts.
A pair of bills in Massachusetts could have some impact on recovery. One mandates reductions in statewide per-capita waste generation and another requires state government offices to divert a host of materials.
China’s imports of some categories of non-ferrous metals, including copper, have gone down because of import quotas. | Andrew b Stowe/Shutterstock
Reports from the Bureau of International Recycling shine a light on non-ferrous scrap metal markets as we enter the new year, particularly in China.
The past few months have seen significant upticks in the value of recovered materials.