Plastic recycling is facing criticism for its low recovery rate, with a recent article in The Atlantic magazine claiming the process "does not work." Argus spoke with Steve Alexander, chief executive of industry group the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), about the criticisms and supply issues that have dogged plastics recyclers in 2022. Read...

Plastics recyclers are willing to do their part to increase recycling rates in the United States, but they are currently constrained by supply available to their facilities, according to a trade group representing them. And, by the way, those recycling rates are not as bad a people are being led to believe, according to the Association of Plastic R...

Single-stream recycling makes it simple for consumers to recycle. You no longer have to sort paper, plastic, cardboard and glass into separate containers to take to the curb. In theory, this should increase recycling and diversion rates. However, the convenience may come at a cost. Confusion about what can and can't be recycled along with contamina...

View the recording View the slides Recycling works. As the Voice of Plastics Recycling® we see it happening every day. Let's focus on progress, and what we can do to improve the system. We need to create more supply of postconsumer plastic material and focus on the facts. In 2020, during a global pandemic, almost 5 billion pounds of plastics packag...

Report Outlines Policy Priorities to Further Support and Grow Recycling Washington, DC – The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), The Voice of Plastic Recycling®, issued a report today that provides a data-driven update on the progress of plastic recycling in the United States showing that it is a viable, accessible and scalable solution for red...

Two years after downgrading rigid polypropylene containers to "check locally," a label system has returned the material to its previous status, determining at least 60% of the country has access to PP collection. How2Recycle, which is part of the GreenBlue organization, issues packaging labels that are used by brands. The label framework is designe...

The Recycling Partnership's Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition has awarded its first film packaging capture grant to EFS-plastics, an Ontario-based company that specializes in plastic film recycling. According to a news release from The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, the $200,000 grant will pay for new shredding equipment for EF...

California's new Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (Senate Bill 54) represents an alliteration of good news for environmentalism in the U.S. According to the Associated Press, the act takes the "toughest" measures against the proliferation of single-use plastics seen in the U.S. The organizations that have been ...

CCL Label, the world's largest converter of pressure sensitive and extruded film materials for decorative, functional & information labels, has unveiled a new generation of their EcoStream® labels that support the recycling of PET bottles at a very high quality level. They are made from floating low-density polyolefin material that separat...

TLMI announces the resounding success of a recent webinar the association co-hosted with the Association of Plastic Recyclers and the U.S. Plastics Pact. The webinar, Label Design to Meet 2025 Sustainability Goals, was attended by nearly 300 converters, suppliers and brands across the industry. As brands and printed packaging buyers increasingly pr...

Sustainability is a complicated subject matter, however, especially when it comes to packaging. Materials that appear to be compostable, for example, might actually be compostable only in certain facilities, and the same goes for recyclables. It's important to discuss these matters with your packaging supplier to ensure that, first, you are minimiz...

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington, says 138.7 million pounds of increased demand for postconsumer resin (PCR) was generated in 2021 through its APR Recycling Demand Champions Program. The announcement was made during the recent APR Member Meeting in June. First launched in 2018, the APR Recycling Demand Champions Program has in...

Accelerating growth in demand for recycled plastics. The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) is pleased to announce that its program designed to drive market demand for recycled plastics generated 138.7 million pounds of new demand for postconsumer resin (PCR) in 2021. The APR announced the latest program results, as well as the new companies jo...

At the June Association of Plastic Recyclers members meeting, speakers shared insights on policy, data collection and a shifting tone in how the sector portrays itself. Read the full article from Plastics Recycling Update.

In an effort to be a good neighbor and lessen its impact on the environment, Meijer is encouraging its customers to bring their plastic flowerpots and trays – regardless of where they originally purchased the plants or flowers – to any Meijer Garden Center to recycle. In addition to keeping plastic out of the landfill, recycled plastic uses less en...

Sustainable plastics are being held back by a variety of factors, offering opportunities for investors to drive change. With increasing frequency over the last decade, packaging companies have come under pressure for the synthetic polymers they use to make packaged goods. This pressure is mounting from several angles, including environmentalists, c...

Siegwerk has announced its most recent development for an improved deinking, especially for rigid plastic packaging which is adding a substantial value to industrial mechanical recycling. The company's deinking primers enable a smooth and reliable deinking at any hot washing condition currently used in the recycling industry. Read the full article ...

Those who call it a myth ignore the facts: The US has at least 180 facilities to reprocess billions of pounds of plastics every year, and customer demand is growing. Last week, LaMar Detert walked me through Discover Plastics, his 48-year-old plastic recycling company in Rogers, Minnesota. I was there because I wanted to double-check that it exists...

The Recycling Partnership has launched the PET Recycling Coalition, an initiative informed by industry knowledge and expertise to improve polyethylene terephthalate (PET, plastic #1) circularity. Its work will focus on four key opportunities to increase PET recycling: Increasing the capture of PET bottles;Broadening the acceptance of PET trays, cup...

UL and OceanCycle will continue collaborating to drive dialogue on standards and encourage the industry to agree on common definitions and processes ­– similar to what the Association of Plastic Recyclers achieved for post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics. Read the full article from Recycling Today. Read the full article from Sustainable Plastics. ...