Heidi Brock, president and CEO of the Washington-based American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has issued a statement in support of the RECYCLE Act, proposed legislation introduced with bipartisan sponsors in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

A new Virginia executive order aims to decrease plastic pollution and reduce the amount of solid waste going to landfills. Governor Ralph Northam signed Executive Order Seventy-Seven Tuesday. According to a release from the governor’s office, the new order puts Virginia on a path to eliminate most single-use plastics at state agencies, colleges and universities, imposing a near-term ban on several common, but unnecessary disposable plastics and requiring the phase-out of other items by 2025. Gov.

Malaysia will return a container of plastic trash en route from the United States as it violates new U.N. rules governing hazardous waste, the environment ministry said, one of the first signs of the regulations being enforced. Two years ago, more than 180 countries agreed to ban hard-to-recycle plastic waste trade in an attempt to stop rich countries dumping trash in the developing world, where it often ends up polluting the local environment and the ocean.

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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.

Municipal governments and the public might strongly support residential recycling, but they might not fully understand how commodity markets work in the recycling industry. They sometimes have misconceptions about the value of commodities processed by material recovery facilities (MRFs).

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.

More Recycling (which many AOR members may recall was formerlly Moore Recycling and rebranding as MORE when Patty Moore retired and sold the firm), a research and technology firm headquartered in Sonoma, California, has rebranded as Stina Inc., its legal entity name, in a move that expands its mission to help organizations and individuals prioritize the sustainable use of resources, according to a news release from the com