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Chinese authorities have issued the first five rounds of recyclable-material import permits for 2018. Compared with 2017, the country has allowed substantially less recycled plastic to enter the country and approved permits for far fewer companies across all material types.
A study commissioned by Closed Loop Partners identifies strategies to enhance the PET bottle recycling system, allowing recycled PET to better compete with virgin plastic.
Two brand owners recently made pledges to boost recycled content and improve the recyclability of their packaging.
Recyclables exported out of the U.S. are moving to Southeast Asia, where reclaimers and mills are dramatically increasing purchases as China closes its doors to recovered materials. New figures illustrate that shift.
The value of recovered packaging is flat to up as the new year begins.
A Portland, Ore. reclaimer is making plans for a facility that would sort out less commonly recycled plastics coming from across the region.
Data from the sale of recyclable plastic bottles and aluminum cans in early December suggest the value of recovered packaging will end the year in a slightly weak position.
The U.S. PET bottle recycling rate dropped from 30.1 percent to 28.4 percent in 2016, as the volume of new containers placed onto the market continued to increase.
Global packaging producer Sonoco recycled the equivalent of 57 percent of the packaging it placed on the market last year.