Read the full story at Resource Recycling.
New York lawmakers are trying to make their state the fifth in the nation to pass an extended producer responsibility law for packaging, and some stakeholders feel like this is the year.
Category: Product stewardship
Bottle bill or ‘recycling refund’ legislation? Advocates commit to 2023 policy push
Read the full story at Waste Dive.
More than a dozen organizations voiced support for passing container deposit laws in 2023 and changing some terminology to garner more support. Some MRF representatives are wary.
To raise recycling rates, The Recycling Partnership advocates for packaging EPR in every state
Read the full story from Waste Dive.
The Recycling Partnership’s new report encourages support for “smart, well-designed” EPR for packaging programs. TRP’s Dylan de Thomas explains what that could look like.
Vinyl Institute launches PVC recycling grant program
Read the full story in Recycling Today.
The Washington-based Vinyl Institute (VI), a U.S. trade association representing manufacturers of vinyl, has announced the formation of the Viability program. VI says this is a first-of-its-kind, industrywide recycling grant program aimed at accelerating postconsumer polyvinyl chloride (PVC) recycling in the country.
According to a news release from VI, the grant program will make available up to $1 million in funds each year for the next three years from four PVC resin manufacturers in the U.S.: Formosa Plastics, based in New Jersey, and Oxy, Shintech and Westlake, all based in Houston.
Where does chemical recycling fit into EPR policy? Experts say it’s complicated.
Read the full story at Waste Dive.
Though companies are taking more interest in chemical recycling projects than ever before, clear guidelines to assess a project’s potential environmental, health and economic impacts are lacking, according to speakers at a Nov. 17 Product Stewardship Institute webinar.
More research could help address the issue, but the waste and recycling industry must also recognize that chemical recycling is not a monolith, the speakers said. The term encompasses a set of diverse technologies creating a variety of outputs.
Making Sense of “Chemical Recycling”: Criteria for Assessing Plastics-to-Plastics and Plastics-to-Fuel Technologies
This report is designed to provide guidance to government policy makers considering chemical recycling technology permits and legislation and is not an endorsement of any company or technology. Our hope is that it will inspire constructive dialogue among a range of stakeholders.
Visit the Product Stewardship Institute website for additional publications.
Is EPR an answer to compostable packaging’s contamination and labeling hurdles?
Read the full story at Waste Dive.
Extended producer responsibility laws can and should encompass compostable packaging, industry players at a recent Product Stewardship Institute webinar said.
In My Opinion: EPR takeaways from OECD meeting
Read the full story at Resource Recycling.
In September, I was invited to join a stakeholder consultation meeting organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Washington D.C. The objective was to assess the performance of the U.S. EPA in addressing the environmental – and, especially environmental justice – impacts of plastic, which pollutes our coasts and oceans worldwide. Participants were also asked to recommend initiatives that the EPA could take to further reduce impacts.
To reduce trash, some states charge the companies producing it
Read the full story at Stateline.
Municipalities and waste managers around the country are raising the alarm about limited landfill capacity, and some see Extended Producer Responsibility policies as a piece of the puzzle.
A Legal pot problem that’s now plaguing the streets of America: Plastic litter
Read the full story at Inside Climate News.
Waste packaging from a burgeoning and newly legalized marijuana industry litters streets across the country, adding to a global crisis of plastic waste.
In New York, regulators who are making the state’s first-ever rules for the retail sale of recreational marijuana hope they have answers to limit their state’s contribution to the problem. They’ve been working to include sustainable packaging requirements into the licenses that businesses will need to open by the end of this year.
However, at least one prominent environmental advocate fears New York—and other states grappling with a new and booming industry—aren’t requiring enough producer responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products.
Environmental News Bits 
You must be logged in to post a comment.