On June 28, 2018, Robin Wiener was the presenter for the NRC Market Development Quarterly Webinar series, She provided an update on the various initiatives implemented by the Chinese Government and their implication for our domestic recycling markets. You can find a recording of this webinar and other archived NRC/PRMC webinars on the NRC website: … Continued
What sorts of things should the industry be looking at now, to prepare for the next five or six years? KANE: I would pay a lot of attention to cities that are trying to recover value from organics and get that out of the waste stream. That will radically change the incentives and the levers at … Continued
Biderman, like many of his industry association colleagues, has also called for MRF operators to take extra care with the quality of their bales while working to educate Chinese officials about realistic expectations on contamination specifications. Amid all of this discussion there have been some concerns about material potentially getting sent to landfills or waste-to-energy … Continued
For too long, the U.S. has overlooked supporting and developing its own domestic end markets for recovered materials. It has relied on easy access to foreign markets with a seemingly endless appetite for materials and underdeveloped quality and oversight standards. The U.S. recycling marketplace had taken advantage of these conditions, pushing quantity over quality and … Continued
The Green Fence launched by the Chinese government in 2013, was an initiative designed to ensure that bales of imported recyclables, including paper and plastics, contained those recyclables and no garbage or other materials. This summer, the Chinese government has addressed the issues more seriously with a new policy called National Sword.
Closed Loop Fund (CLF) has released the results of its latest impact report, which highlights recent successes such as the diversion of 100,000 tons of materials from landfill, a 230,000 metric ton reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the creation of more than $530,000 in economic benefits to municipalities. Full article here.
The Environmental Protection Agency has encouraged people in the U.S. to recycle for decades. But, there are still some people who have failed to jump on board with this movement. Full article here.
Americans composted nearly two million tons of food, and food-composting collection programs reached more than 2.8 million households in 2014, according to a November 2016 EPA report. However, the agency estimates that Americans produced more than 38 million tons of food waste in 2014. Full article here.
With recycling contamination on the rise, more cities are making the choice to dig into bins and tell residents what they’re doing wrong. Facing an estimated $5-6 million in annual contamination costs, Toronto recently launched a six-month pilot program that involves temporary staff inspecting carts and tagging any that have too many unacceptable items. Full … Continued
