What began as an anti-littering measure has become an overwhelmingly popular recycling policy. But after more than 40 years of regularly returning more than 90 percent of bottles and cans, Michigan remains one of of the worst states for recycling in the nation. Michigan only recycles 15 percent of all possible materials, compared with a national average of 35 percent.

​New Fact Sheet:  Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) on Tribal Lands

This week, EPA released a fact sheet called Sustainable Materials Management on Tribal Lands: A Life-Cycle Approach to Managing Materials. This fact sheet is the first of its kind and it will introduce tribal governments, communities and individuals to the concept of Sustainable Materials Management, showcase tribal projects that have applied SMM principles and practices successfully and encourage tribes to consider this approach to their materials management work.

From Press Release:

AmSty and Agilyx have signed a Letter of Intent to form a joint venture that will assume operations of Agilyx’s first-in-kind polystyrene recycling facility in Tigard, Oregon. The process converts used polystyrene products back into their original liquid form, styrene monomer. Fresh polystyrene products can then be made without degrading quality or value. This form of circular recycling is known as the PolyUsable™ process.

From Resource Recycling, by Colin Staub

WestRock and other players in the paper supply chain recently completed a pilot project that collected and recycled 25 million fiber cups from Starbucks.

Through the pilot project, collected Starbucks coffee cups were sent to recycled paper company Sustana, which used the material to create 100 percent post-consumer recycled fiber.

Attendees of the inaugural Capital Markets Conference, a Waste Today event held in Chicago Oct. 17-18, 2018, heard from presenters with viewpoints on how the lower value of collected recyclables is affecting the bottom line of waste and recycling firms.

From Waste Today by Megan Smalley

Feature Story from Recycling Today by Brian Taylor

​During the previous two decades, China emerged and then solidified its role as the leading producer and consumer of nearly every basic material, including base metals, plastic and paper and board.

The global shift in resources also entailed China becoming a magnet for secondary raw materials, including millions of tons annually of paper, metal and plastic scrap imported from other nations.

The city is switching to dual-stream recycling because of cost increases for single-stream recycling.

From Recycling Today, by Megan Smalley

The city of Kingston, New York, plans to transition from a single-stream recycling system to a dual-stream recycling system, according to the Daily Freeman newspaper. 

From Recycling Today, Edited by Adam Redling

From Waste Today by Adam Redling