A major industry merger lives on, but a mixed-waste MRF project in Ohio dies. Hauler consolidation: New tax regulations unveiled by the Obama administration will not derail the acquisition by Texas-based Waste Connections of Toronto-based Progressive Waste Solutions. But The Wall Street Journal reports the combined company's profits will dented by the government action, which aims to block the "inversion"...

Organizers of the annual International Compost Awareness Week are asking for sponsors to help with this year's celebration, which is themed "Compost: the Soil and Water Connection." Held May 1-7 this year, International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) is an annual outreach campaign aimed at showcasing composting and compost products. It is a program of the U.S. Composting Council. Organizations interested...

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Equipment company Pelletron has been purchased by IPEG Inc., which has pledged to inject capital into its newest brand. Pelletron, a company based in Lancaster, Pa., specializes in researching and developing technologies for conveying plastics and other materials. "Our primary focus is to help Pelletron grow doing what they do best, engineering high-throughput pneumatic conveying systems," Chris Keller, president and...

The value of old milk jugs and other forms of HDPE scrap rose by more than 25 percent in recent weeks. The price paid for HDPE container bales on the East Coast leaped to more than 32 cents per pound at the beginning of April (FOB supplier’s dock). While this is welcome news for bale sellers, the current price is...

More than 10 million pounds of plastic pesticide containers were collected for recycling in 2015, according to the Ag Container Recycling Council. The latest estimate from the group marks the sixth year in a row collection totals have exceeded the 8 million pound mark. In total, 10.44 million pounds of containers were collected from farmers and the agricultural industry in...

The bulky rigids recycling space nabs some attention, and a Dutch innovator creates a plastic processing system that will fit in your garage. The big stuff: Earth911.com published a story exploring opportunities in recycling bulky rigid plastic items. Originally published in the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries' Scrap magazine, the article explores collection approaches, transportation challenges and processing equipment needs...

Pratt Industries, which makes paper and packaging from 100 percent recycled materials, last week held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its latest mill. The plant is located next to the company’s corrugated cardboard factory in Valparaiso, Ind. The project was originally announced in fall of 2013. It’s the fourth North American mill for Pratt. According to the Chicago Tribune, the 250,000-square-foot...

The Foodservice Packaging Institute has released a toolkit to assist communities and businesses in recycling more food-service packaging. The Foodservice Packaging Recovery Toolkit, found at recyclefsp.org, is available free of charge. It provides information to help food-service establishments, local governments and MRF operators divert more packaging from landfill. The Falls Church, Va.-based Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) estimates about one-third of...

A recently released report estimates the U.K. recycled about 38 percent of its plastic packaging in 2014. The Plastics Markets Situation Report, produced by the waste prevention and research group WRAP, states about 2.2 million metric tons of plastic packaging were put on the market in 2014. The report notes that about 1.38 million metric tons were disposed of, and...