Dive Brief:

• David Steiner, CEO of Waste Management, said that due to a drop in commodity pricing, recycling profitability is disappearing, causing the company to rethink its approach to this market.
• “Recycling is not profitable. We have lost money in recycling over the last one and a half years,” he said. “Investment has slowed to a trickle.”
• Steiner says recycling can see profits through the introduction of new technologies, different sources of revenue and new types of contracts.“If you want us to invest, we need a sustainable business model,” he added.

Dive Insight:

Two companies which were cited as overcoming challenges facing the industry, eRecycling Corps and MBA Polymers, are introducing new concepts in recycling. eRecycling Corp has been successful at approaching cell recycling from a unique angle, while MBA Polymers has tapped into resources from a niche market, auto-recycling.