The data gleaned from AI imaging systems can help improve MRF operations on a wider scale. | Photo courtesy EverestLabs
Equipment supplier EverestLabs recently highlighted a handful of examples of how artificial intelligence-equipped data analytics can help MRF operators modify equipment settings to improve commodity recovery. Continue Reading
Some companies, including major material haulers, are taking a tempered view of the tariffs, especially given the amount of macroeconomic turmoil that has accompanied the past five years. | chuyuss/Shutterstock
Update: Most of the new tariffs on imports from both Mexico and Canada were paused until April 2, following executive orders President Donald Trump signed on March 6.
The Recycled Materials Association warned of potential “severe” disruption to the materials recovery sector after tariffs targeting the U.S.’s largest trading partners took effect March 4, bringing higher costs to import nearly all goods, including recycled commodities.
Plastic pallet wrap is one material that’s eligible for an exemption from the state’s extended producer responsibility for packaging program. | St.Marco/Shutterstock
The Product Stewardship Institute and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality explained the different exemptions available to producers under the state’s incoming extended producer responsibility for packaging law in a recent webinar. Continue Reading
End users of recycled materials across several sectors have announced plans to shut down or relocate facilities of late. | Worradirek/Shutterstock
The latest earnings calls for recycled paper, glass and plastic end users and processors have brought facility closure and layoff announcements, at times contrasting with recent expansion plans. Continue Reading
As part of a recent report, the U.S. EPA provided new recycling rate estimates, which hadn’t been updated since the agency released 2018 data. | Billion Photos/Shutterstock
The U.S. EPA’s recent recycling infrastructure report was largely focused on the investments needed to improve the system but also included new recycling rate estimates for specific materials, some of the first data updates the agency has released since its last Facts and Figures report several years ago. Continue Reading
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
Secondary sortation will continue to play a role in the recycling value chain, panelists said. | Dan Holtmeyer/Resource Recycling
With MRFs becoming ever more sophisticated and AI and robotics providing customizable levels of materials sortation, chemical recycling feedstock provides the most promising end market for secondary sorting, according to panelists at the recent Resource Recycling Conference. Continue Reading
Continuus Materials’ Iowa facility was acquired by hauler WM only a few years ago. | Courtesy of Continuus
A growing end market for mixed paper, plastic and cartons abruptly closed this fall. Continue Reading
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.
Exports of key recovered materials continued recent trends from July through September of this year, with paper exports declining modestly and plastic exports flat. | apiguide/Shutterstock
Recovered fiber exports have continued a multi-year decline in 2024, both in the third quarter and in the first nine months of the year as a whole. Plastic exports, however, have stayed steady and even slightly increased throughout the year. Continue Reading