North Pacific Paper Co. (NORPAC), Longview, Washington, is expanding its Longview operations to transform recovered paper into 100 percent recycled papers for boxes, displays, bags and a variety of other packaging products.

According to a news release from NORPAC, the expansion will help solve a difficult environmental challenge resulting from changes in the state’s ability to export recovered paper for recycling, which has sent tons of valuable material to landfills instead. Converting that material to new paper will also safeguard about 400 jobs at the mill.

Recyclops, which offers curbside recycling in rural areas, is now operating in 40 cities across five states.

Any time Utah-based Recyclops, which offers "convenient and affordable" recycling in rural areas across the U.S., launches a program in a new city, the business does a signup campaign for services to begin. When 150 residents signed up for the recycling program in two days in Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona, Ryan Smith, Recyclops CEO, hopped on a plane to launch the program.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is awarding up to $600,000 in grants for projects that promote

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.

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The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) sent a letter to Udall and Lowenthal in response to the legislation by the Aug. 21 deadline. According to NWRA, the association believes the proposals outlined by Udall and Lowenthal will lead to more contamination and that Congress should focus on policy initiatives that would expand the domestic recycling market.

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.