Europe’s ambition to be less wasteful just ran into a coronavirus crisis reality check.

One month after the European Commission launched an ambitious package to move from a throwaway culture to a more circular economy, the pandemic is creating mountains of plastic litter and tons of rotting food.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the global economy and disrupted the waste, plastic, and recycling industries. While waste management, plastics production, and recycling sectors at first glance appear only tangentially linked to essential services, they are intimately connected to a thriving economy and critical public health roles. The uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have caused significant limitations on recycling and municipal waste services in the U.S. and beyond.

Organics recyclers are facing tense times as measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 begin to impact community composting efforts. With many of these small-scale companies depending on universities and restaurants for a majority of their collection volumes, mass closings across the U.S. have left collection services in a tight spot.

Read more at Waste Today

Stay-at-home orders are hitting container deposit systems hard, leading to significant declines in the volumes of high-quality recyclables moving to material processors.

Eight out of the 10 states with container redemption systems have enacted temporary measures limiting deposit returns in some way. The fallout for recycled material processors has been expansive.

With less material coming in, companies are shouldering higher costs as they scramble to supply their customers and adapt to the fast-changing landscape. In other cases, they’re curtailing operations temporarily.

The digital divide has always been a serious problem, but in the era of COVID-19 its dire. Free Geek has been on the front lines of bridging the digital divide and right now the demand for Free Geek’s low to no cost computers is higher than ever in our history.  Hundreds of thousands in our community are not connected to the internet or need a device to access it. Seniors need vital access to their doctors through telehealth appointments, workers need access to devices to continue their work from home and students need access to machines so that they complete their school work.

As the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread nationwide, Than Moore, a physician’s assistant at UVM Medical Center, began to notice two problems that he suspected might have one solution.

Moore thought that the thousands of canceled graduation ceremonies offered an opportunity: Why not repurpose gowns as part of the protective gear needed for health care workers who are struggling to find enough supplies during the pandemic? To answer that question, he launched a website to help grads and healthcare workers make the connection.

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) urges the public to take necessary steps to protect sanitation workers from coming into contact with potentially contaminated items. Solid waste collection is a critical and essential job as part of the response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The men and women working in the waste and recycling industry are on the frontlines protecting human health and the environment.

A mutant bacterial enzyme that breaks down plastic bottles for recycling in hours has been created by scientists. The enzyme, originally discovered in a compost heap of leaves, reduced the bottles to chemical building blocks that were then used to make high-quality new bottles. Existing recycling technologies usually produce plastic only good enough for clothing and carpets.

Read more at Waste Advantage

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) published a White Paper today on extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging and paper products (PPP). The goal of the White Paper is to provide state officials, policymakers, and affected industries with a baseline of shared knowledge on this topic.  

The coronavirus pandemic is leading the food industry and regulators to change policies as they grapple with empty shelves, a glut of fresh produce and milk, and sudden shifts in consumer buying habits.

The problem isn’t a shortage of food and commodities. If anything, food waste is becoming a bigger issue as traditionally big, bulk buyers — like college dorms and restaurant chains — suddenly stop receiving deliveries. As a result, millions of gallons of milk are being dumped, and farmers have no alternative but to turn fresh vegetables into mulch.