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Two members of Congress will revive the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which includes a national container deposit system and other sweeping changes. Representatives from the plastics industry have countered the push.

According to a March 22 press release from Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., the 2021 bill will be introduced on Thursday, March 25. Multiple virtual events are planned this week to discuss the bill.

The Recycling Partnership has launched Communities for Recycling, an innovative national initiative to provide Americans with real-time, personalized, and hyper-local recycling information through Facebook’s Messenger experience. The initiative is the result of a collaboration between The Recycling Partnership, Facebook, and leading consumer packaged goods brands like PepsiCo.

EPA is sponsoring a Community-Based Social Marketing Workshop presented by Doug McKenzie-Mohr. There is limited space for this workshop. To apply, please complete this form, including a short description of your project idea.

The legislation, introduced by the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would impose new permitting requirements on plastics producers, establish recycled content standards and institute a national bottle bill.

Continue reading at Recycling Today

Recycling is many things. It is both a noun and a verb. To a waste professional it may be the collection and diversion of tons of marketable materials. To community members, recycling is an easy way to waste less and to contribute to the greater good. When asked about recyclables, however, most mistakenly believe that anything with the chasing arrows should go in their bin.

The Recycling Leadership Council (RLC) hosted an online press conference Feb. 4 to introduce its “Blueprint for America’s Recycling System,” which outlines areas where the federal government can assist with strengthening the recycling system in the United States. U.S. policymakers also joined the RLC on the call.

“America’s Plastic Makers are helping lead the way toward ending plastic waste by investing, innovating, and driving policies that treat used plastics as a resource for making new products. One of the reasons plastics are so widely used in packaging is that they allow us to do more with less, which inherently reduces waste and carbon emissions, an increasingly important factor as we collectively work to address climate change.

New York State Sen. Todd Kaminsky and Assemblyman Steve Englebright have introduced S.1185A, which would require packaging producers in the state to pay for recycling.

The bill states that by shifting the responsibility from local governments to corporate producers for the end-of-life disposal of packaging and paper products, recycling in the state will increase. Under the bill, producers would be required to finance the recycling of their paper products and packaging materials but also would be rewarded for enhancing the recyclability of the items.

Though recycling businesses often have large numbers of people of color at lower levels of the workforce, racial disparities are wide at the upper ranks.

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