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  Let’s make paper recycling even stronger with EPR

  A group of 10 local recycling professionals from around the country responds to the paper industry’s opposition to EPR for packaging, citing low recycling rates for cardboard and paper products.

  Jan. 9, 2024

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  Let’s keep paper recycling strong amid ‘significant risk’ from EPR policies: AF&PA

  Heidi Brock, CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association, says that a one-size-fits-all approach to extended producer responsibility proposals could affect “the long-term success of paper recycling.”

  Heidi Brock • Nov. 15, 2023

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  EPA should put landfill methane on COP28 agenda: former Oregon governor

  States like Oregon are curbing landfill methane emissions to help achieve climate goals. Kate Brown says the EPA should take greater action on this issue ahead of COP28.

  Kate Brown • Nov. 8, 2023

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  AI is a reason for optimism in recycling in 2023 and beyond

  Claims that recycling can’t ever work fail to account for the high degree of innovation making recycling processes more efficient and cost effective, writes AMP Robotics CEO Matanya Horowitz.

  Matanya Horowitz • Feb. 1, 2023

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  Companies can no longer peg food waste recycling as a West Coast initiative

  The Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s director of innovation recaps new and expanded drop-off and collection programs, plus new processing facilities to meet that demand, suggesting continued momentum for solutions in 2023.

  Olga Kachook • Jan. 5, 2023

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  What analyzing National Sword can teach us about optimizing US plastics recycling

  The dust has yet to settle from the major reckoning the U.S. plastics recycling system faced, but three notable factors have the potential to change the status quo going forward, write researchers from the University of California, Berkeley.

  Jessica Heiges and Kate O’Neill • Nov. 16, 2022

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  EPA can lead the charge for battery recycling to secure our electric future

  Call2Recycle CEO Leo Raudys lays out four recommendations around education, infrastructure, handling and labeling for the agency as it distributes historic levels of infrastructure funding.

  Leo Raudys • Oct. 12, 2022

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  3 reasons to believe in the future of plastic recycling

  Recent articles have hammered a drumbeat of negativity on plastics recycling, but it can work with the right investment and policy action, writes the senior director of strategy and research at The Recycling Partnership.

  Scott Mouw • July 20, 2022

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  Surveying the corporate-controlled EPR landscape in 2022

  Amid new producer responsibility action in states such as Colorado, New York and Hawaii, Neil Seldman of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance weighs in on the best way to approach this policy going forward.

  Neil Seldman • June 22, 2022

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  The methane emissions crisis demands a faster transformation in how we handle organic waste

  The waste sector presents some of the best opportunities to reduce methane emissions and global warming through organic waste prevention, source separation and composting, writes John Ribeiro-Broomhead.

  John Ribeiro-Broomhead • May 11, 2022

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  Biogas from landfills must be part of aviation's net-zero future

  As the aviation sector makes investments to increase the production of sustainable fuel, Boeing and SkyNRG Americas say it’s key to focus on the potential to reduce methane emissions.

  Sheila Remes and John Plaza • Jan. 19, 2022

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  We must invest in compost infrastructure to match growing demand for sustainable products

  Jessica Bowman, executive director of the Plant Based Products Council, points to new consumer survey data as another reason to evolve materials management options and pass the national COMPOST Act.

  Jessica Bowman • Jan. 5, 2022

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  The EPA wants to fix US recycling. Start by making it simpler.

  Geoff Freeman, who leads the Consumer Brands Association, makes the case that standardizing definitions is key to improving both packaging design and education to reduce contamination.

  Geoff Freeman • Nov. 19, 2021

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  It's time to look harder at landfills if we're serious about addressing climate change

  Leaders from the Institute for Energy and Resource Management, drawing on Europe's experience, make the case for why it's time to stop landfilling MSW and move toward a more integrated waste management system.

  Philipp Schmidt-Pathmann and Stephen Gerritson • Nov. 12, 2021

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  The imperative for a reuse economy and culture

  Linda Pouliot, CEO of reusable dishware delivery service Dishcraft, shares lessons learned from the early stages of California's shift toward reuse systems for food service packaging.

  Linda Pouliot • Nov. 10, 2021

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  The dirty truth about the waste industry's 'labor shortage'

  Chuck Stiles, director of the Solid Waste and Recycling Division of the Teamsters union, says the industry's issue with recruiting and retaining workers comes down to insufficient wages, benefits and respect.

  Chuck Stiles • Nov. 9, 2021

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  Could better recycling logistics solve EPR challenges?

  More flexible collection systems may be a solution to packaging issues — regardless of the regulatory landscape — writes Ryan Smith, CEO and founder of startup Recyclops.

  Ryan Smith • Nov. 3, 2021

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  Anaerobic digestion, nature's recycling engine, must be leveraged as a climate solution

  Instead of sustainably managing organic waste, writes Bioenergy Devco CEO Shawn Kreloff, much of the United States is exacerbating the climate crisis by relying on incineration, landfilling and land application.

  Shawn Kreloff • Oct. 8, 2021

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  EPR in the US can't directly follow the European model; it must avoid a producer monopoly

  The Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Neil Seldman responds to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's description of extended producer responsibility as “a necessary part of the solution to packaging waste and pollution."

  Neil Seldman • July 8, 2021

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  New York City's waste future could be shaped by the closure of an island jail

  Closing Rikers Island as a jail offers an opportunity to change aspects of New York's waste management infrastructure and potentially rethink expanding the city's role in overseeing it, former DSNY official Robert Lange writes.

  Robert Lange • April 15, 2021

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  Go big or go home on national recycling policy

  The recently reintroduced RECYCLE Act is a distraction from the systemic changes offered by the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, writes the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers' Kate Bailey.

  Kate Bailey • March 31, 2021

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  Deposit return systems are a key part of solving the plastic paradox

  The quantity and quality of feedstock must improve to support industry pledges and government initiatives to increase recycled content — making deposit return systems all the more important, writes Reloop's Elizabeth Balkan.

  Elizabeth Balkan • March 29, 2021

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  How the waste and recycling industry can weather rapid changes in the insurance marketplace

  Nathan Brainard, vice president of the environmental division at Insurance Office of America, outlines why so many insurers have exited the marketplace in recent years and how industry service providers can turn things around.

  Nathan Brainard • Nov. 19, 2020

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  Biden's Build Back Better is an opportunity for organics recyclers

  Jeremy Brosowsky, CEO of Agricity, makes the case for why food waste reduction and composting should be a key part of the next administration's economic recovery and climate change efforts.

  Jeremy Brosowsky • Nov. 17, 2020

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  Landfill mining may still be new, but it has a lot to offer

  Doug Logan of Aggregates Equipment, Inc. explores the benefits, costs and future outlook for landfill mining. While not yet widely adopted, that could change as disposal capacity shrinks in certain regions.

  Doug Logan • July 24, 2020

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