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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]

Kentucky haulers were faced with an unusual problem this year. Both the governor and the state's House of Representatives supported a 'universal collection' bill that would require all households and [...]

Newspapers are printed on newsprint, an uncoated groundwood paper made by mechanically grinding wood pulp without first removing lignin and other wood pulp components. This creates a different product than [...]

At the recent Congressional hearing on interstate waste, the directors of several state environmental protection agencies bemoaned their inability to manage their disposal capacity. All their efforts to manage waste [...]

A battery is a device in which the energy of a chemical reaction can be converted into electricity. Batteries range in size and use. Small, sealed button and six-volt batteries [...]

Have you ever noticed how much recycling supporters and opponents sound like each other when they argue about recycling? Both sides are fueled by an intense moral fervor. Each camp [...]

Aseptic boxes, also known as drink boxes, were introduced into the United States in 1981 to house liquids, primarily beverages such as milk, fruit juices and wine. Aseptic processing involves [...]

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) resin is produced from the chemical compound ethylene. Bottles are blow-molded while containers are injection-molded. Milk bottles are the most common HDPE package. Most milk and water [...]

I recently bought a mulching lawn mower that does a nice job of cutting and grasscycling the grass in my front yard. And I mow part of my backyard, but [...]

The mayors of two very different cities, Baltimore, Md., and Charleston, W. Va., recently proposed that their curbside recycling programs cease operations. They argued that recycling is a money loser [...]

Steel containers may have originated in 14th century Bohemia. However, it wasn't until 1809 that a Frenchman invented a process to package preserved food in cans. Three years later, tin-plated [...]

The Southeastern Public Service Authority (SEPSA), a solid waste authority in Tidewater, Va., wants to impose a generator 'fee' on residents and businesses in its eight member communities. SEPSA says [...]

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a plastic resin used to make bottles for soft drinks, household and consumer products, and 'custom' bottles. Custom bottles are used for non-soft drink products such [...]

Yard waste includes grass, leaves and tree and brush trimmings. Grass is the largest yard waste component by weight, while leaves are the largest component by volume. Yard waste also [...]

Last month, I wrote about my experiences as a member of the District of Columbia Solid Waste Facility Site Selection Advisory Panel. Panel members were appointed by the Washington, D.C. [...]

Corrugated boxes (also known as old corrugated containers or OCC) are used to ship more than 90 percent of all products to factories, warehouses, retail stores, offices and homes. Corrugated [...]

'Don't build it and they will go away' sounds like a motto for all those people who oppose new disposal facilities. It also sounds like a motto for people who [...]

Bauxite ore is mined and refined into alumina (aluminum oxide), one of the primary feedstocks for aluminum metal. Scrap aluminum supplies one-third of America's total aluminum supply. Recycled aluminum cans [...]

Japan's '50 percent' recycling rate was probably the most commonly recited garbage statistic in the late '80s and early '90s. In those days, every time I attended a state or [...]

Glass containers are made from sand, limestone, soda ash, cullet (crushed bottles), and various additives, including those used to 'color' brown, green and blue bottles. More than 60 percent of [...]

Everybody in the solid waste business has at least one not in my backyard (NIMBY) story to tell. Far too often, when a landfill, transfer station, recycling center or composting [...]

Newspapers are printed on newsprint, an uncoated groundwood paper made by mechanically grinding wood pulp without first removing lignin and other wood pulp components. This creates a different product than [...]

Plastic film, which provides 39 percent of all plastic packaging, is a thin-gauge packaging used as a bag or wrap. Examples include plastic grocery sacks, trash bags, dry cleaning garment [...]

Landfills manage to inspire an extraordinary amount of passion as well as nonsense. Instead of being viewed as public health necessities, they often are viewed as the devil's creations. People [...]

On November 15, many of us will promote buying recycled by celebrating the fourth annual America Recycles Day. Yet as worthy as this objective may be, why can't recycling have [...]

Most magazines are printed on coated, groundwood paper, which is the same kind of paper used for newspapers. The most common coating is clay. Clay smooths the paper's surface and [...]

During this year's election, at least one politician will stake his or her political future on garbage. I'll bet that politician is campaigning against a proposed landfill or against out-of-state [...]

Food waste includes uneaten portions of meals and trimmings from food preparation activities in kitchens, restaurants and cafeterias. Food waste is the third largest component of generated waste by weight, [...]

Popularity is the most important virtue for high schoolers. But as we get older, we learn other qualities are more important. That's why I find it somewhat bizarre when recycling [...]

Sixty percent of the rubber consumed in the United States is used to make tires. Raw materials used to make tires include -- rubber (41 percent), carbon black (28 percent), [...]

We know who invented the telephone and who invented the electric bulb. We even know who claims to have invented the Internet. But do we know who invented garbage? If [...]

Office paper is a generic name for a wide variety of paper products used in offices and businesses, including letterhead, computer and copying paper, and file stock. These paper grades [...]

By now, most people with a television set know about Tony Soprano. The main character in the popular HBO series 'The Sopranos,' Tony is a New Jersey gangster who is [...]

Steel containers may have originated in 14th century Bohemia. However, it wasn't until 1809 that a Frenchman invented a process to package preserved food. Three years later, tinplated cans were [...]

What's with Minnesota? While most of us have learned how to make less garbage, North Star state residents are creating trash at a rate that would tire Paul Bunyan. Or [...]

High-density Polyethylene (HDPE) resin is produced from the chemical compound ethylene. Bottles are blow-molded while containers are injection-molded. Milk bottles are the most common HDPE package. Most milk and water [...]

Yard waste includes grass, leaves, and tree and brush trimmings. Grass is the largest yard waste component by weight, while leaves are the largest component by volume. Grass is the [...]

Built in the 1690s, America's first recycling business was a Philadelphia mill that used rags to make paper. During the next 300 years, recycling was dominated by mom-and-pop companies that [...]

Recycling is easy -- source reduction is hard. Even though source reduction -- usually represented by its two surrogates, reduce and reuse -- is at the top of the solid [...]

How many times have you been told that if we just 'close the loop and buy recycled' we can solve recycling's economic problems? The logic behind this slogan is simple [...]

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a plastic resin used to make bottles for soft drinks, salad dressings, fruit juices, peanut butter and other household and consumer products. PET also is used [...]

Hollywood gives us two very different images of garbage in the future. In Star Trek, the 'replicator' makes things appear and disappear on command. Star Wars, in the scene where [...]

Twenty-two percent of the aluminum used in America goes into packaging. This is the second largest use for aluminum, trailing only transportation products. Aluminum packaging is produced in both rigid [...]

Waste has a bad reputation -- and deservedly so. Just think of the ways we use the word 'waste' in normal conversation. We describe unproductive time as a waste of [...]

Corrugated boxes (also known as old corrugated containers or 0CC) are the largest segment of the packaging industry. More than 90 percent of all products shipped to factories, warehouses, retail [...]

In the past year or two, several curbside recycling programs stopped operating and a larger number of materials processing facilities (MRFs) closed. The curbside programs died because of low participation [...]

Glass containers are made from sand, limestone, soda ash, cullet (crushed bottles) and various additives, including those used to 'color' brown, green and blue bottles. Fifty-three percent of the glass [...]

Aluminum Packaging Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Facts: Generated: * 1,960,000 tons or 0.9% by weight per year. [*] * 1,600,000 tons of cans per year. [*] * 360,000 tons of [...]