R2 and e-Stewards representatives are challenging the legality of a bill in Illinois that prohibits accrediting organizations from penalizing e-scrap companies if they send CRT glass to storage cells at a landfill. The CRT storage approach is allowed under current Illinois law."This legislation is an attempt to rewrite the standard via legislation, which is clearly inappropriate and, in my opinion,...

An eight-month initiative in several Chicago hospitals aims to collect 100 tons of plastic and demonstrate the business case for health-care plastics recycling. The project, announced by the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC), will target the volumes of PP and PE available from clinical settings. Founded in 2011, the St. Paul, Minn.-based group encourages packaging reduction and increased recycling of...

California has under-subsidized its container redemption centers to the tune of $43 million in recent years, leading a significant number of them to close, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Even worse financial pain may still be coming. "This system is really in jeopardy right now in California," Jenny Gitlitz, a consultant for the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), said during...

Plastic bag manufacturer Novolex will gobble up a nationwide maker of can liners, a move that will reduce its exposure to the uncertain retail shopping bag market. Hartsville, S.C.-based Novolex, a consumer of recycled and virgin LLDPE and HDPE, will acquire Heritage Bag Co. The deal brings Novolex's annual revenue to $2.3 billion, according to the company. Roanoke, Texas-based Heritage...

Consumers should leave caps on their empty plastic bottles because when caps are taken off, they often fall through screens, contaminating glass cullet streams. Bottles without caps are also more likely to be flattened and sorted incorrectly. Those are a few conclusions from a report examining the top 15 packaging challenges at materials recovery facilities (MRFs). Released in late March,...

California has under-subsidized its container redemption centers to the tune of $43 million in recent years, leading a significant number of them to close, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Even worse financial pain may still be coming. "This system is really in jeopardy right now in California," Jenny Gitlitz, a consultant for the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), said during...

A committee in the New Jersey General Assembly voted to advance the "Smart Container Act," which would place a 10-cent deposit on containers of less than 24 ounces and a 20-cent deposit on larger ones. Under the legislation, A2281, all beverage retailers would be required to accept empty containers. The bill covers containers holding beer, juice, soda, sports drinks, water...

The Indian government has unveiled tough regulations aimed at reducing plastic waste. India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on March 18 released the new regulations on end-of-life plastics management. They update those released in 2011. The regulations require local governments to transport collected scrap plastics to registered recycling companies only. Local governments are also instructed to use non-recyclable...

Houston's move to remove glass from the curbside stream kills a planned multi-million-dollar industry investment there, according to an executive at glass processing company Strategic Materials. "If the City of Houston isn't committed to recycling, then we're not going to spend the money," Curt Bucey told Resource Recycling. "We save our $8 million now." Bucey, executive vice president of industry...

A $1.5 million loan from the Closed Loop Fund enabled construction of a high-tech materials recovery facility in an area of the country that has been sorely lacking in processing capacity. The company receiving the funding is also notable for its "pure-play" recycling model. Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) on March 16 held a grand-opening celebration for the 40,000-square-foot facility, called...