Recycling

A new paint recycling program beginning in the state of Washington allows households and businesses to recycle leftover paint, stain, and varnish conveniently and sustainably. The program is operated by PaintCare, a nonprofit organization created by the paint industry through the American Coatings Association (ACA) to manage leftover paint in states that have enacted paint stewardship laws. PaintCare will provide more than 200 drop-off sites across Washington, which include paint retail stores and locally managed government facilities.

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) announced March 30 that the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) will pay the state of California $1,175,000 in penalties for its repeated failure from 2013 through 2016 to meet recycling and landfill diversion goals under California’s Carpet Product Stewardship Law. The settlement agreement follows a California Third District Court of Appeal ruling affirming administrative civil penalties against CARE, which is an organization that represents carpet manufacturers.

International environment consultancy Eunomia, with support from 

A new report developed by the Solid Waste Association of North America’s (SWANA's) Applied Research Foundation (ARF) addresses the issue of increased contamination in curbside recycling programs in recent years and its effect on costs and safety at material recovery facilities (MRFs).

Continue reading at Resource Recycling for the full story.

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).

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

California legislators introduced a bill that creates a packaging stewardship organization and adds packaging fees paid by producers. The bill is the latest in a flurry of plastics-related legislative activity in the state.

The legislation, introduced by the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would impose new permitting requirements on plastics producers, establish recycled content standards and institute a national bottle bill.

Continue reading at Recycling Today

Recycling is many things. It is both a noun and a verb. To a waste professional it may be the collection and diversion of tons of marketable materials. To community members, recycling is an easy way to waste less and to contribute to the greater good. When asked about recyclables, however, most mistakenly believe that anything with the chasing arrows should go in their bin.