Resource Recycling is keeping track of how the novel coronavirus is affecting the business of materials recovery and processing.

HERE you’ll find all of their in-depth reporting and analysis on the topic, plus a growing list of resources for programs and businesses impacted by the pandemic. 

Brewers Collective, the craft business unit of Anheuser-Busch, announced a national partnership with innovative recycling company TerraCycle to promote the proper recycling of personal protective equipment (PPE). Brewers Collective has installed TerraCycle Zero Waste Boxes, specially intended for single-use masks and gloves, at 18 craft breweries across the U.S. Once the boxes are filled, they will be returned to TerraCycle for recycling.

As the Sustainability Coordinator at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus over the last seven years I have had numerous neighborhood First Lego League teams come to campus to tour our sustainability practices for ideas.  First Lego League is a global robotics competition that teaches young children

The Recycling Steering Committee is meeting on Friday, January 17 to review preliminary results of collection infrastructure research and guide the next steps for analysis; follow up on equity discussions from the 12/17 meeting; and do final preparations for the 1/31 Information Session. The meeting agenda includes:

What is it?
House Bill (HB) 2509, passed in the 2019 Oregon legislative session, prohibits retail stores and restaurants from providing single-use checkout bags to customers, and places restrictions on other checkout bags they may provide. The ban went into effect on January 1, 2020.

After that, a retail store or restaurant may provide only reusable or recycled paper checkout bags to customers. In certain cases, they must charge a fee to customers for providing the bag.

Last week, The Recycling Partnership released the Bridge to Circularity Report, calling for a $500 million-dollar investment to start the needed transformation of the U.S. recycling system.
 

While it’s still early stages, some lawmakers are floating ideas like producer responsibility bills for packaging and European Union-style restrictions on some single-use plastics. But other legislators seem to be steering toward proposals that focus on more traditional goals, like building out government-financed curbside recycling infrastructure.

Senate Bill 54 and Assembly Bill 1080, collectively called the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, are identical companion bills that aim to reduce single-use packaging and product waste in California by 75% by 2030. The two bills were proposed by Sen. Ben Allen, who represents parts of southern and western Los Angeles county, and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who represents southern San Diego.

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.