After closing and consolidating operations in North America and the U.K., the e-scrap business of Sims Metals Management has posted promising results. Results from the recently completed 2015 fiscal year (FY), which ran from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015, show increased revenues from Sims' tightened global e-scrap operations. Revenues from the e-scrap wing of the company, Sims Recycling...

WestRock Co. has agreed to purchase recycled fiber company SP Fiber Holdings, continuing a recent spate of paper industry mergers and consolidations. WestRock – itself the product of a recent merger between two industry giants, RockTenn and MeadWestvaco – will pay $288.5 million to acquire SP Fiber Holdings, the company announced Aug. 11. The deal is subject to regulatory approval....

Recycling interests are applauding a bill in Congress that would authorize a grant program to fund waste reduction, recycling and reuse efforts. The Zero Waste Development and Expansion Act (H.R. 3237) calls for creating a U.S. EPA grant program, which would fund local government efforts to deploy technology, invest in infrastructure and conduct outreach in support of waste reduction, recycling...

During a conference call with investors, leaders at Trex touched on the company's newly launched pellet business and other offerings outside the recycled decking space. With sales for the second quarter of 2015 reaching $136.8 million and up 13 percent over Q2 2014 sales, Trex's outgoing CEO Ron Kaplan said on the call the company's nascent recycled polyethylene pellet business...

An industry group has criticized a recently signed bill modifying the e-scrap law in Illinois, saying the state failed to account for existing recycling outlets for CRT glass. In a letter sent to the Illinois EPA on July 20, a group consisting of 13 electronics recycling companies, including some of the industry's most prominent, argues House Bill 1455 assumes "CRT...

A county in Nova Scotia is leveraging an industry grant to open the door to accepting expanded polystyrene in its curbside recycling program. Colchester County, with a population of about 50,000 residents, will move forward with the addition, thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition. The grant will allow residents and commercial outlets to add EPS, including...

A plastics recycling firm handling about 10 percent of the recovered beverage containers in the U.K. has laid off employees and is working to stave off a total shutdown. Euro Closed Loop Recycling laid off 32 staff and cut hours for 12 additional staff on June 29, according to a letter from Afzal Majid, one of the company owners, to...

A recent paper from a major plastics group finds there are both pros and cons to the "all in one bin" recycling collection and processing approach. "There are key tradeoffs that that need to be analyzed as part of assessing mixed-waste processing," the report, commissioned by the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), concludes. "The technology promises to...

The recovery rate for consumer electronics in the U.S. jumped sharply in 2013, but it's unclear whether more robust data accounts for the uptick, a newly released U.S. EPA report states. The rate was 40.4 percent in 2013, up from 30.6 percent in 2012, according to the report. The municipal solid waste stream included 3.14 million tons of selected consumer...

Legislation in play in New Jersey would provoke an overhaul of the state's e-scrap program and offer an easing of state requirements for mobile hard drive shredding. Senate Bill 2973 would likely increase original equipment manufacturer recycling targets, and SB 2978 would allow mobile hard drive shredders to operate without a state permit. Both passed unanimously through the Senate Environment...