Recycling has been the subject of many negative headlines over the past two years: “The World’s Recycling is in Chaos;” “RIP: Recycling is Dead as We Know It;” “Recycling is a Waste.” The list goes on. Of the communities surveyed in The Recycling Partnership’s 2019 “The State of Curbside Recycling” report, more than 50 have canceled their recycling programs, and 29 percent have stopped collecting certain items.

In 2017, Waste Management (WM) began conceptualizing a materials recovery facility (MRF) that would help the company address two major ongoing market issues: high labor turnover rates and processing the highest quality materials for end markets.

Recycling and engineering teams at WM sat down and began designing a highly automated facility, known as Waste Management’s MRF of the Future, that would make high-quality material with the lowest labor possible.

Republic Services, Rogue Disposal & Recycling, and Southern Oregon Sanitation announced today that the will begin recycling number one and two plastic bottles and jugs.

The three local waste management companies will now be accepting the items in curbside recycling carts and at local recycle depots.

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The American Chemistry Council (ACC) and More Recycling (MORE) announce a new website to accelerate end market development for plastics. The Recycling Market Development Platform will help connect stakeholders, accelerate the continued growth of plastics recycling and provide guidance on how to better support plastics’ circularity. This free, open-source digital platform was developed by MORE with ACC as a founding partner.

The ban in California could have impacts on the sector in other states, because any company importing goods to California would have to comply with its plastic standards. Much like California’s emissions standards tend to cause changes in the automotive industry nationally, such a bill has the potential to shift the plastic landscape more broadly.

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The list includes new paper mills along with existing mills that are closed or are still operating but are being converted to produce different end products (e.g. from newsprint to packaging).

It also includes two mill that will be using recycled feedstock other than OCC and RMP. One is a facilty desigined to produce paper pulp and plastic pellets using beverage cartons and aseptic packages as its primary feedstock. The other is a mill designed to use food contaminated paper from commercial sources. 

The mills are listed in rough order of their projected opening.

U.S. exporters who are still moving OCC and other recyclables to China may face higher costs, after the Chinese government last week announced additional tariffs on key scrap materials.

OCC, newsprint and some higher-grade recovered fibers will face an additional 5% tariff when imported into China, according to an announcement from the Chinese government. The list also includes scrap aluminum.

Last year, in partnership with the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA), NERC formed a Regional Recycling Markets Development Committee.  The Committee determined that having regional information about the value of recyclable commodities would be extremely helpful for assessing regional market trends and would serve as an educational tool for promoting improved residential recycling and participation.  North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality has been doing a similar survey for many years.  The results have been invaluable to recyclers, MRFs, and also munic

Historically, companies have used post-consumer resin (PCR) because it was a lower cost feedstock than virgin. In recent years, however, pricing for virgin plastic (mostly “wide spec” resin) has fallen below that of PCR (mostly high quality PCR that is suitable for food contact).

A pilot project led by Colorado’s state recycling association revealed a number of impediments businesses in the region face when it comes to glass recycling. The group also suggested some solutions.

Recycle Colorado organized the six-month pilot project hoping to learn why more high-volume generators of glass don’t recycle the material. Colorado has about a 30% recycling rate for glass, despite the fact the state has two large bottle factories that consume cullet.