This Global Recycling Day, people across the world are celebrating recycling as the key to sustainability. Plastics at the end of their useful life are not waste, but a tremendous environmental and economic opportunity. As recyclers, we capture this valuable resource and return it to the circular economy. We are the ones who close the loop. But tod...
March 3, 2020 - APR and FPI Press Release
New Guide Outlines Design Impacts Related to Foodservice Plastics Recyclability
“Design Guide for Foodservice Plastics Recyclability” addresses components related to foodservice packaging and the impact of recyclability
The Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI), in collaboration with the Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR), released a brand-new guide designed to provide education and resources on the recycling process, packaging formats, and the components that impact recyclability related to foodservice packaging.
Steve sits down with Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership, to discuss the Partnership and its work across the country, the state of American recycling today, and what the future holds for the circular economy. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, or anywhere else you get your podcasts!
February 18, 2020 - APR Press Release
Newest APR Recycling Demand Champion Companies Announced at the 2020 Plastics Recycling Conference in Nashville, TN
Campaign Continues to Experience Exponential Growth
Developed by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), the APR Recycling Demand Champions Campaign plays a prominent role in driving investment and increasing supply of PCR.
January 22, 2020 - APR Press Release
APR Launches Renewed Push for Grocery Rigid Plastics Recycling
Recycling Trade Organization Offers Updated Website, Tools, Info Flyer
The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) today confirmed its continued commitment to recycling grocery rigid plastics with a renewed push to encourage retail grocery chains to aggregate and market their behind-the-counter rigid plastics.
AASHTO has adopted a new specification that allows plastic pipe products to contain post-consumer recycled content and meet rigorous 100 year life span requirements. This webinar will provide you the background and insights you need to be sure you are using the latest drainage pipes while benefiting your state's recycling programs. Webinar re...
This session will provide an in depth overview of how to incorporate postconsumer recycled content into your package, Walmart's PCR goals and feasible % PCR by packaging format, as well as how to source and reduce costs of PCR.Less Click here to view the presentation slides. Click here to view a recording of the webinar.
October 2, 2019 - APR Press Release
APR Recycling Demand Champions Campaign Announces Over 300% Growth
Company Participation Continues to Expand
APR Recycling Demand Champions program has generated almost 26 million pounds of new demand for postconsumer resin (PCR) this year, more than tripling the amount generated in the first year.
Amidst all the media coverage about plastic recycling, the team at APR has produced a new video to help shine a light on an important missing part of the conversation: Demand drives recycling. The recently released video explains that consumers can and do play an integral role in the effectiveness of the recycling chain – both by putting recyclable...
Authored by Lynn Rubinstein, Executive Director of the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and Steve Alexander, President of the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) Most people in the recycling community know that recycling is alive and well in the United States. Although there are current adjustments due to the actions of China, there are market...
This was originally posted on The Hill on February 28, 2019. Recently on Capitol Hill, the plastics industry gathered congressional staff and reporters together to highlight a billion-dollar campaign designed to rid the ocean of plastic. At the event, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) announced the reintroduction of legi...
Presenters: Kara Pochiro, APR VP of Communicatiosn & Public Affairs; Steve Alexander, APR President & CEO; and Ron Vance, Chief, Resource Conservation Branch, US EPA According to the EPA, "Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles," but is the...
Information gained from Life Cycle Inventories (LCI) provide the data to calculate the emissions of greenhouse gases. This information is critical to understand the true environmental impact of recycled plastics. The soon to be published 2018 Life Cycle Assessment includes updates to the PET and HDPE information from the 2010 LCI, with the addition...
The APR Recycling Demand Champions Campaign plays a prominent role in expanding the market for residential plastics, driving investment, increasing supply and producing more high quality PCR. The initial phase of the campaign focused on purchasing new volume PCR through "work in process" (WIP) durable goods, but has expanded to include any and all ...
The headlines about the rippling effect of China's National Sword continue. Recycling facilities left with material. China's Sword cutting deep into recycling. Lasting effects of China's Sword. Where will all the plastics go? Although these headlines are of great concern, The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) believes that China's action serve...
Background:Since 2009 APR has conducted a survey to evaluate each state's largest municipality's residential plastics collection programs, and the growing trend continues to be: Recycling Rigid Plastics Beyond Bottles. APR's Recycling Rigid Plastics Beyond Bottles Toolkits were developed to provide resources to support state and local solid waste m...
Samuel Adams' Founder Jim Koch once stated, "They don't teach you this in Harvard Business School, but it's all about people. Everything happens by, with or through people. Nothing just happens on its own." In the recycling world, it's no different. From where I sit at the SC Department of Commerce, without a workforce, the bottles and jugs that ar...
Background: How2Recycle® is a consumer based standardized labeling system that provides specific instructions to consumers, directly on packaging, regarding whether or not a container is recyclable, not yet recyclable, or if the consumer should check if their local collection programs accept the material. Each How2Recycle® label is based on the mos...
This article was written by Keefe Harrison and originally published in Recycling Today on June 7, 2017. With the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, announced June 1, 2017, the federal government, which was the first entity to create environmental regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the use of landfills...
I had the opportunity to attend the recent investor participant workshop of New Plastics Economy (NPE) initiative of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation last week in Brooklyn. More than 100 brand owners, activists, and other industry representatives were in attendance. The NPE is focused on creating a Global Plastic Protocol for plastic packaging as par...
