New legislation proposed by the Washington state Department of Ecology hopes to address some of those deficiencies in regional recycling and solid waste management. The ultimate goal is to attract more businesses to recycle and use materials in the state, and offer state help for waste managers at the county and city level as they better plan for how to manage the stuff they collect.

CONTINUE READING AT WASTE ADVANTAGE

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.

Article from Resource Recycling by Colin Staub

Although China announced they are suspending the inspection process for US material headed to China, from May 4 through June 4, 2018, it did not have a large impact on the commodities we ship.  Mainly, because we export very little material into China anymore.  The continued trade restrictions and bans on the commodities we produce have all but shut the door for us to send recovered materials to them. 

Resource Recycling compiled a great summary of “Recycling Markets Development in the 21st Century,” a workshop co-hosted by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) and the Association of Oregon Recyclers (AOR) on April 4, 2018.

AOR-member Agilyx will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of their Tigard, Oregon polystyrene-to-styrene oil plant on April 19, 2018 at 10am. The ribbon-cutting will launch a week of celebrations, including plant tours by invitation from April 24-26, 2018.

China's National Sword policy is particularly affecting Southern Oregon recycling programs. Here's a round-up of news articles on this issue: 

​​Curbside Recycling Pickup Under Threat in Oregon Communities (A review of what's happening with recycling programs in Southern Oregon.) - from WRAL.com