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This article discusses the current state of recycling markets, highlighting which materials are in high demand and which are not. The hot markets include old corrugated containers (OCC), residential mixed paper (RMP), PET bottles, and aluminum cans. Prices for these materials have increased due to seasonal demand for beverages and packaging. On the other hand, steel cans and colored HDPE bottles are in low demand, while natural HDPE bottles and polypropylene (PP) packaging have average demand. The article explains the factors influencing these market trends, such as changes in consumer behavior, capacity for recycled paper, and the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. Overall, the recycling markets are currently experiencing unusual and fluctuating conditions. [Extracted from the article]

This article discusses the misinformation surrounding recycling and the negative impact it has on people's perception of recycling efforts. The author highlights that some organizations and individuals spread false information about recycling, particularly regarding plastic recycling, either due to their opposition to plastic products or a lack of fact-checking. This misinformation undermines trust in recycling and discourages people from participating. The article suggests that recycling advocates should take the initiative to educate the public by providing accurate information and organizing tours of materials recovery facilities to demonstrate the effectiveness of recycling. The author emphasizes the importance of state recycling groups and local officials in telling the story of successful recycling programs and countering misinformation. [Extracted from the article]

Plentiful supplies of cheap domestic and imported virgin resin prices along with unusually high supplies of off spec and "wide" spec resin create a tough competitive climate for recycled resins. Demand and supply, of course, are at the heart of prices. [Extracted from the article]

Showing the success of our recycling efforts is especially important given the onslaught of negative media portrayals of plastic recycling. While they may have seen or read stories claiming recycling is a hoax, I knew our county's recyclables are being turned into new products. [Extracted from the article]

It made a passing nod to cultural differences in the countries which claimed high recycling rates but expressed no skepticism over rates in the 90 percent range. Wishcycling is the bane of recycling programs. [Extracted from the article]

Unfortunately, legislators and recycling advocates are also guilty of wishcycling. It made a passing nod to cultural differences in the countries which claimed high recycling rates but expressed no skepticism over rates in the 90 percent range. A recent study predicted EPR recycling rates at or near 70 percent in five states. [Extracted from the article]

Legislators established new EPR programs, recycled content requirements, organics mandates, and updated deposit laws. 2022's downward recycling markets were largely caused by the weakness of the U.S. and global economies. The former provided grants to increase accessibility to recycling while the latter was concerned with better recycling data. [Extracted from the article]

For a start, Greenpeace constantly conflates plastic packaging with all plastics. Circular Claims Fall Flat Again is Greenpeace's latest assault on plastic recycling. [Extracted from the article]

90 percent or 50 percent or... A friend of mine likes to say the only thing wrong with recycling rates is the numerator and the denominator. Too many legislators and recycling advocates don't want to admit that not every American cares about recycling. Because the higher recycling percentage includes boxes made overseas and used to ship products to this country (the numerator) but it does not include them in the total boxes used in this country (the denominator). [Extracted from the article]

Unfortunately, both old corrugated container (OCC) and residential mixed paper (RMP) markets went down in the first week of August. Recycling markets began reacting to economic news in mid-May when plastic and metal recycling markets started to soften. [Extracted from the article]

Five years ago in July, the Chinese government announced a potential ban on imports of 24 different recyclables. PET and PP prices went up a bit, natural HDPE and colored HDPE went up and then down. [Extracted from the article]

Last year two states, Oregon and Maine, enacted extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging laws. But they also want more easily recyclable packaging, a higher recycling rate along with recycled content, reuse and other goals. Supporters argue those fees give packaging companies the financial incentive to lower their costs and make their packages more easily recyclable. [Extracted from the article]

Unfortunately, data recently released by the Shelton Group shows that while almost all of us believe recycling is good for the environment, just under half of us say recycling isn't working well and almost a third aren't confident that what they put in the bin gets recycled. Most Americans believe recycling is important but almost half of us think it is "broken" and nearly a third aren't sure their recyclables are, in fact, recycled. Recycling's biggest problem isn't cost or contamination or markets, it's the belief that we are wasting our time recycling. [Extracted from the article]

Coca-Cola recently announced its industry-leading target for reusable packaging. This isn't Coke's first press release promising to do green. Coke isn't the only company putting out press releases announcing recyclability and recycled content goals. [Extracted from the article]

Coca-Cola recently announced its industry-leading target for reusable packaging. Coke isn't the only company putting out press releases announcing recyclability and recycled content goals. [Extracted from the article]

Recycled paper prices benefitted from increased retail demand for new boxes, increased domestic capacity to make those boxes from old cardboard boxes and mixed paper, and a reviving export market. Prices for cardboard boxes, mixed paper, steel cans, natural and colored HDPE containers and polypropylene containers reached or came close to all time highs. Plastic recycling prices benefitted from rising oil prices and recycled content goals of consumer products companies. [Extracted from the article]

For the last three years recycling has been plagued by a demand crisis. A supply crisis differs fundamentally from a demand crisis. [Extracted from the article]

At a recent Congressional hearing, two Senators lamented the gap between paper and plastic recycling. If every single plastic package were collected for recycling versus only half of the printed paper and paper packages, paper would still have a higher recycling rate. Corrugated boxes are the biggest paper product in the recycling/waste stream by far. [Extracted from the article]

Prices for paper and most plastic curbside recyclables are at or near all time highs. More than halfway through 2021, recyclables remain a hot commodity. [Extracted from the article]

This year saw the most recycling bills introduced at the state and Federal level since the tsunami of laws following the 1987 voyage of the garbage barge. They believe new, stronger laws will lead to more people recycling and not just recycling but recycling right. Is recycling intended to save natural or economic resources or is it intended to cause less waste going to disposal or is it intended to lower greenhouse gas emissions or all three or more?. [Extracted from the article]

The Chinese market may be gone, but mills in other countries, lead by India, Mexico and Vietnam, have increased their imports. Following the Chinese government's 2017 announcement about ending recyclable paper and plastic imports, markets went down and stayed down. [Extracted from the article]

You may have seen John Oliver's March 22 "Last Week Tonight" program about plastics and recycling. "High Achieving" households already had low recycling contamination rates of less than 10 percent. [Extracted from the article]

The most obvious is the extraordinary monopoly power given to the "producer responsibility organization" - the group managing EPR on behalf of packaging and paper companies. Most of the nine states considering EPR for packaging and paper have pushed off a decision until next year. Nine states and Congress are considering legislation to make packaging and paper companies pay for residential recycling. [Extracted from the article]

"Make the manufacturers pay" has become a popular solution for recycling's problems. Moreover, by "internalizing" the recycling cost, manufacturers will find ways to make their packaging and products more easily recyclable. These product stewardship laws, also known as "EPR" for "extended producer responsibility", are somewhat common in the United States. [Extracted from the article]

In late January of 2020, I spoke about recycling markets at the Connecticut Recycling Conference. The two Save Our Seas bills, the only recycling bills passed in the last two Congresses, had that kind of support. If the vaccines are successful and if enough Americans take them to create herd immunity, I suspect the economy will do well and recycling programs will benefit from better markets. [Extracted from the article]

In late January of 2020, I spoke about recycling markets at the Connecticut Recycling Conference. The two Save Our Seas bills, the only recycling bills passed in the last two Congresses, had that kind of support. If the vaccines are successful and if enough Americans take them to create herd immunity, I suspect the economy will do well and recycling programs will benefit from better markets. [Extracted from the article]

Beverage companies should have little trouble meeting the first two deadlines given the ability of that state's container deposit law to supply consistent quantities of high quality PET bottles. Her November 21 article "Chocolate Makers Are Having A Hard Time Cutting Down on Sugar" raises, to me, interesting questions about what happens when policy goals run into technology and human nature. As legislators consider new recycling laws, they need to remember that technology cannot solve everything and that human nature might not cooperate. [Extracted from the article]

According to EPA's just-released 2018 waste and recycling data, packaging is 41 percent of plastic products generated. The resin identification code found on most plastic packages includes recycling's chasing arrows symbol. Putting the recycling symbol on plastic packages is misleading because it implies the package is recyclable whether or not a local recycling program exists. [Extracted from the article]

Recycling is not rocket science. The real problem is that recycling is people science, not rocket science. Recycling will not grow until we create a social norm in which it is a natural and normal part of our behavior. [Extracted from the article]

In order to accurately compare these programs, the consultant used Maryland's recycling rate methodology. Under certain conditions, Maryland allows a county to include ash from a waste-to-energy facility in its recycling rate. As for Montgomery County, we have a 57-percent recycling rate and a 62-percent diversion rate using the state methodology. [Extracted from the article]

In order to accurately compare these programs, the consultant used Maryland's recycling rate methodology. Under certain conditions, Maryland allows a county to include ash from a waste-to-energy facility in its recycling rate. As for Montgomery County, we have a 57-percent recycling rate and a 62-percent diversion rate using the state methodology. [Extracted from the article]

Ironically, the higher prices are not good for the mills that rely on OCC as a raw material. If demand for consumer products fall as our financial belts are tightened, prices for OCC and mixed paper will also fall. As for recycled plastics, falling prices for virgin resin lead to falling prices for recycled resin. [Extracted from the article]

Ironically, the higher prices are not good for the mills that rely on OCC as a raw material. If demand for consumer products fall as our financial belts are tightened, prices for OCC and mixed paper will also fall. As for recycled plastics, falling prices for virgin resin lead to falling prices for recycled resin. [Extracted from the article]

Fifty years ago, the first Earth Day focused America's attention on our polluted air and water and our rat-filled open burning dumps. Yet while Earth Day clearly created the political support for those laws, recycling was one of its biggest beneficiaries. Earth Day and its aftermath emphasized how garbage and recycling are unique among environmental issues. [Extracted from the article]

Single-use plastic products sped up my recovery. Single-use plastic packaging protects products, prevents food waste and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. We need to have a serious conversation about the value - and drawbacks - of single-use products and packaging instead of the hysteria that is so prevalent. [Extracted from the article]

What do you want from a package? In our waste and recycling world, the phrase usually implies that producers need to design their products and packages for recycling and pay for it, too. [Extracted from the article]

As curbside recycling has increased, materials recovery facilities processing curbside recyclables have become much more reliable at meeting consistent quantity, but they still struggle to meet quality specifications. I plan to write about strategies to improve markets for our curbside raw materials in an upcoming column. [Extracted from the article]

Markets remain daunting as we continue to deal with the fallout from China's decision to ban mixed paper and mixed plastic imports. The good news is that while China is banning imports of mixed recycled plastics, it is not banning imports of recycled plastic resin and pellets. Food waste recovery legislation aimed at restaurants, groceries and other large food waste generators will be popular at the state and local level. [Extracted from the article]

The EPA-sponsored Innovation Fair featured an array of new technologies and packages. In September, drones began delivering packages in Christiansburg, Va. Wing, the company whose drones will deliver packages of 3 pounds or less, was the first to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration as an "air carrier." If the drones prove cost effective and do not spark opposition based on noise, privacy or other concerns, drone delivery may become common in rural and exurban areas where they will be more cost effective than truck delivery. [Extracted from the article]

The newspaper industry felt more confident about using recycled content newsprint than ever before. Between the collapse of classified advertising and other impacts of electronic media, and the financial strain caused by vulture capitalists who bought newspapers and drained them of their assets, the newspaper industry has been diminished. Chaz Miller is a longtime veteran of the waste and recycling industry. [Extracted from the article]

The newspaper industry felt more confident about using recycled content newsprint than ever before. Between the collapse of classified advertising and other impacts of electronic media, and the financial strain caused by vulture capitalists who bought newspapers and drained them of their assets, the newspaper industry has been diminished. Chaz Miller is a longtime veteran of the waste and recycling industry. [Extracted from the article]

The newspaper industry felt more confident about using recycled content newsprint than ever before. Between the collapse of classified advertising and other impacts of electronic media, and the financial strain caused by vulture capitalists who bought newspapers and drained them of their assets, the newspaper industry has been diminished. Chaz Miller is a longtime veteran of the waste and recycling industry. [Extracted from the article]

The newspaper industry felt more confident about using recycled content newsprint than ever before. Between the collapse of classified advertising and other impacts of electronic media, and the financial strain caused by vulture capitalists who bought newspapers and drained them of their assets, the newspaper industry has been diminished. Chaz Miller is a longtime veteran of the waste and recycling industry. [Extracted from the article]

On that day, Pratt Industries will officially start up its new recycled paper mill in Wapakoneta, Ohio. However, it is unique because it is the first new mill that will use a substantial amount of mixed paper as a raw material. Low raw material prices will boost their recycling mills' bottom lines and help pave the way, perhaps, for further expansions. [Extracted from the article]

Recycling has never been a hot topic on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is directed to regulate hazardous wastes, to develop guidelines for solid waste disposal and to work with the states on their solid waste plans. History repeated itself when the Trump administration attempted to defund EPA's solid waste and recycling activities. [Extracted from the article]