The waste industry is no stranger to new factors entering the space and changing how different companies handle materials. So far in 2025, things are moving very quickly with changes to policies, new tariffs, and the ever-rising costs of business, operation, and more. At the Plastics Recycling Conference this week, Emily Friedman took the stage to help keep us up to speed on the breakneck pace changes in the industry can have, price trends, and what the next 18 months may look like for U.S. RPET, sustainability commitment, legislation, and trade trends.
Category: Waste 360
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The PET recycling industry is seeing record-high recycling rates and increased demand for recycled PET (rPET), driven by corporate commitments and legislative mandates, but meeting future goals will require significant investments in collection and processing infrastructure. Companies like Republic Services are pioneering integrated recycling projects, while the industry pushes for better collection systems and advancements in PET recycling technology to support a more circular economy.
In this Waste360 Q&A, Bridget Croke, managing director at Closed Loop Partners, names some of the industries leading the charge and highlights ideas they are testing along their journey.
Dr. Volker Rehrmann of TOMRA Recycling highlights advancements in decarbonizing aluminum recycling and emerging solutions for lesser-known material streams, including textiles and wood.
Governments and industries are grappling with the dual challenge of managing global waste responsibly while keeping costs manageable as landfill space diminishes and disposal expenses increase. The push for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, already established in Europe and gaining traction in the U.S., underscores a shift towards holding manufacturers accountable for managing their products’ end-of-life disposal, particularly single-use packaging, amidst inadequate recycling infrastructure.
Proponents say mass balance negates the need to duplicate billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure to keep recycled and virgin materials separate throughout the value chain, thus enabling scale up. Opponents say making recycled claims on what can’t be physically traced is misleading.
Research shows confusion over date labels accounts for 8 percent of consumer food waste in the U.S., costing around $30 billion a year. In this Q&A Dana Gunders, executive director of ReFED, updates us on the status of the Food Date Labeling Act, introduced to the legislature for the third time.