Is advanced recycling the answer to plastic waste?
GreenBiz
AUGUST 1, 2022
Waste into materials not just once but continuously: It’s the brass ring of the circular economy. Can it work?
Plastics Recycling Waste 
Using sunlight to recycle black plastics
Envirotec Magazine
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Inside this reaction vial, spotlit by concentrated sunlight, a piece of black polystyrene from a foam tray breaks down into a recyclable material (image credit: Hanning Jiang). An emerging strategy for plastic recycling involves using light to help break down plastic into chemically useful materials that can be recycled into new products.
Recycling 
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Innovative mortar blend uses recycled plastic to enhance insulation and cut waste
TechXplore
FEBRUARY 18, 2025
A mortar made from recycled plastic and silica aerogel that improves insulation and reduces plastic waste has been developed by Newcastle University researchers. The team hopes this new building material could reduce heating and cooling bills while being environmentally friendly.
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The U.S. Plastics Pact launches new initiative to redesign the plastics value chain at Circularity 20
GreenBiz
SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
Plastics Pact launches new initiative to redesign the plastics value chain at Circularity 20. recycling market has been in free fall since 2018, when China, Malaysia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries announced that they would no longer import many types of recyclable material scraps. Plastics Pact.
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Study pinpoints pathways to boost plastic waste recycling globally
Envirotec Magazine
DECEMBER 14, 2023
A new study highlights potential pathways to significantly increase waste collection and plastic recycling rates globally. Category 2 – Incipient Systems includes countries with basic waste regulations but limited collection and end-of-life treatment infrastructure.
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Moving beyond 100% recyclable goals
GreenBiz
JANUARY 28, 2021
Moving beyond 100% recyclable goals. Numerous companies have set 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging goals such as Colgate-Palmolive and Kellogg. Virtually all these companies, though, are not tracking whether their packaging is actually recycled and what new products their packaging becomes. Scott Breen.
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Funding for plastic recycling tech
Envirotec Magazine
JANUARY 21, 2021
Greenback Recycling Technologies , a company striving to develop circular solutions for packaging waste, has closed an approximately £8m series A financing round. The firm says it is building a globally distributed, decentralised network of advanced recycling plants near the sources of plastic waste.
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Beyond the bale: Viridor unveils plan to eliminate waste plastic exports
Envirotec Magazine
DECEMBER 6, 2021
Viridor says its soon-to-be-opened Avonmouth plastics recycling plant will reprocess over 80,0000 tonnes of plastic, creating recycled raw material ready to be returned to the economy. It will seemingly reprocess over 80,0000 tonnes of plastic, more than 1.6
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Circular economics and the $57B e-waste opportunity
GreenBiz
JULY 12, 2021
Circular economics and the $57B e-waste opportunity. The plastic waste problem gets plenty of attention, and for good reason: If we continue mismanaging this material as usual, there could be 7.7 Just as stunning: Plastic isn't the fastest growing waste stream the world needs to deal with. . Heather Clancy.
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A new ‘supercritical water’ approach to recycling plastic packaging waste
Envirotec Magazine
FEBRUARY 10, 2022
Supercritical water can be a solvent for all organic materials including plastics. Its gas-like penetration power makes it a superior medium to decompose mixtures of complex waste plastics into value-added materials, which are feedstock for manufacturing new plastics. Above the critical point of 374.5
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Pilot plant for recycling plastic lab waste is a UK first
Envirotec Magazine
SEPTEMBER 15, 2023
A pilot plant on the University of Bath campus is said to be able to recycle up to 60% of plastic lab waste, to make back into new lab consumables. Currently, less than 1% of this waste is being recycled. Water usage is also minimised through recycling, further reducing the environmental impact.
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As plastics pile up, can 'advanced' recycling cut the waste?
GreenBiz
JUNE 30, 2023
Proponents of pyrolysis — including oil and gas companies — contend it will reduce plastic pollution. But critics say it will only perpetuate a dependence on fossil fuels.
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Simpler Recycling won’t boost recycling rates says North London waste authority
Envirotec Magazine
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Recycling efforts by north London’s two million residents will not be significantly boosted by the new Simpler Recycling proposals, the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has warned. This includes taking into account local circumstances in relation to the frequency of residual waste collections.
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Plastic pollution is growing relentlessly as waste management and recycling fall short, says OECD
Envirotec Magazine
FEBRUARY 22, 2022
The world is producing twice as much plastic waste as two decades ago, with the bulk of it ending up in landfill, incinerated or leaking into the environment, and only 9% successfully recycled, according to a new OECD report. Almost half of all plastic waste is generated in OECD countries, according to the Outlook.
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Plastic recycling does work says recycling industry group
Envirotec Magazine
JULY 13, 2022
The Recycling Association’s chief executive Simon Ellin has warned that the people behind the Big Plastic Count (an event co-organised by Greenpeace) were “irresponsible” for recent comments saying plastic recycling doesn’t work and for sowing seeds of doubt in the public mind.
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Scaling the Market for Post-Consumer Recycled Content
GreenBiz
SEPTEMBER 14, 2020
Scaling the Market for Post-Consumer Recycled Content. What will it take to scale the domestic market for post-consumer recycled content? The demand for recycled plastics has skyrocketed — so much so that brands and packaging producers are experiencing limited supply. Eunice Heath, Corporate Director, Sustainability, Dow.
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Commercial-scale facility will recycle all forms of plastic waste
Envirotec Magazine
MARCH 26, 2021
· New HydroPRS process creates raw ingredients for “infinitely recyclable new products” · World-first commercial-scale plant starts construction in Teesside, UK, backed by global partners and UK Government. tonnes of plastic packaging – the second highest per capita in the world.[iv] iii] The UK alone produces 2.4m
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£400m to be invested in UK plastic recycling facilities
Envirotec Magazine
NOVEMBER 16, 2022
A new partnership may pave the way for more than £400 million to be invested in recycling facilities across the UK. This will seemingly be the first of 10 new green, advanced recycling facilities that the two firms are jointly seeking to build and operate across the UK.
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Winners of the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe 2022 announced
Envirotec Magazine
JUNE 23, 2022
Winners of the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe 2022 were announced on 23 June at the Plastics Recycling Show Europe in Amsterdam. The seven winners are: • Automotive, Electrical or Electronic Product: Sustainable modular headliner for vehicle interiors and downstream recycling solutions by Grupo Antolin.
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An idea for solving the plastics crisis
GreenBiz
SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
An idea for solving the plastics crisis. A major problem with behavior-change programs in the waste industry is that they rely on consumers being taught to feel the guilt of plastic in the ocean, and the harm to turtles and whales. percent of America’s plastic waste is actually recycled. Sara Kingman.
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Plastic waste has some economic benefit for developing countries
Envirotec Magazine
JULY 2, 2021
Collecting waste in Lubango, Angola (image credit: Carsten ten Brink , CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 In a study published in the Journal of World Systems Research , Yikang Bai of Washington State University and Jennifer Givens of Utah State University analyzed 11 years of data on the global plastics trade against economic measures for 85 countries.
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How the plastic mountain of waste from health care could be recycled
TechXplore
AUGUST 7, 2024
Their use has increased sharply in recent years, and there are currently no methods for recycling such plastic medical waste. Single-use health care items—everything from gloves and blood bags to surgical equipment—have become a growing environmental problem worldwide.
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120k tonnes of plastics available for recycling from UK HWRCs
Envirotec Magazine
MAY 16, 2023
Plastics resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP, has released its 2023 Plastics Management and Recycling at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) in the UK report, finding a significant quantity of plastics going unrecycled.
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Grant awarded for facility to convert waste plastic to hydrogen
Envirotec Magazine
JANUARY 17, 2020
A firm developing hydrogen production from waste plastic has been offered a conditional £1.25m grant for a planned plastics-to-hydrogen facility at Protos, near Ellesmere Port. Peel has a strategy to develop “Plastic Parks” where waste plastics are recycled and regenerated.
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Deep learning, real-time monitoring and more: The recycling trends for 2025 according to TOMRA
Envirotec Magazine
JANUARY 27, 2025
Terry Keyworth is Country Manager UK and Ireland and Segment Director Metal at TOMRA Recycling, a global leader in sensor-based sorting solutions. Terry Keyworth of TOMRA Recycling provides valuable insights into the key trends in sorting and recycling. Digital twins of sorting lines allow detailed object tracking and analysis.
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Soft plastics, glass bins, bans on compostable liners: Will Victoria's new recycling proposal be a step forward?
TechXplore
AUGUST 6, 2024
In recent years, the question of what to do with our household waste has become more pressing. In 2018, China stopped accepting many types of recyclable plastic waste from Australia. Four years later, Australia's main soft plastics recycling scheme, REDcycle, collapsed, leaving behind big stockpiles.
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The LEGO Group introduces tires made with recycled materials
Envirotec Magazine
MARCH 4, 2025
The LEGO Group has introduced a new, more sustainable material for selected LEGO tires, made from recycled fishing nets, ropes, and engine oil. The material is created by repurposing discarded ropes and nets from ocean vessels which is then combined with recycled engine oil to reduce reliance of virgin fossil fuel-based ingredients.
Recycled plastic wireless chargers work twice as fast as regular cables
Inhabitat - Innovation
MARCH 18, 2021
New from Gomi, these wireless chargers made from recycled plastic waste promise 15W charging capabilities and even offer magnetic attachment to devices.
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From Ambition to Accountability: How to (Actually) Solve the Plastics Waste Crisis
GreenBiz
MAY 26, 2022
By now, we all know the scale of the problem: Up to 13 million tons of plastic leaks into the ocean every year; this is equivalent to dumping one garbage truck full of plastic waste into the ocean every minute; without intervention, we’ll have more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.
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Global Waste Index 2022 highlights leaders and laggards
Envirotec Magazine
MARCH 18, 2022
There are still major differences in the amount of waste generated across the world, and how it is disposed, a finding confirmed by a 2022 Global Waste Index compiled by waste management technology firm Sensoneo to mark Global Recycling Day (18 March). Illegal waste disposal is booming in Turkey.
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Recycling solution available for customer-returned soft plastic packaging at Tesco
Envirotec Magazine
FEBRUARY 22, 2022
Over 900 Tesco stores now have collection points for plastic recycling. A new partnership between Tesco and packaging manufacturer Berry Global is now recycling soft plastic collected from customers at Tesco stores. There it is washed, scrubbed and dried, during which processes any unwanted items are removed.
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Engaging Middle America in recycling solutions
GreenBiz
AUGUST 26, 2020
Engaging Middle America in recycling solutions. At Circularity 2020, I’m talking about how to engage people in recycling, and the two ideas are linked together. We were just as worried about plastics in the ocean and climate change in early March as we were last summer, but that concern plummeted in May. . Suzanne Shelton.
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Facility to process hard-to-recycle plastic items will open in Fife
Envirotec Magazine
SEPTEMBER 8, 2021
A state-of-the-art facility to allow the recycling of flexible plastics is to open in Glenrothes, Fife. The company behind the project, Yes Recycling, writes: As an experienced recycler, we specialise in hard-to-recycle plastics, including banknotes, hard hats, printed packaging film, and post-industrial and construction waste streams.
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Report reveals hypocrisy of world’s biggest plastic polluters
Envirotec Magazine
SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
A new report from advocacy group The Changing Markets Foundation appears to reveal how, behind a veil of nice-sounding initiatives and commitments to address the plastics crisis – the plastics industry, consumer brands and retailers have obstructed and undermined proven legislative solutions to the crisis for decades.
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Initiative turns marine plastic pollution into reusable PPE
Envirotec Magazine
AUGUST 24, 2020
A seemingly world-first collaboration is bringing recycled and reusable PPE visors to UK health workers and NGOs in the Dominican Republic. Unlike existing single-use varieties, these visors, produced using Parley Ocean Plastic®, are designed to be completely reusable, providing indefinite protection. ” Parley has donated 2.28
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Group attempts to turn plastic waste into a useful soil additive
Envirotec Magazine
JANUARY 10, 2023
Researchers from University of California, Riverside, have detailed a method to convert plastic waste into a highly porous form of charcoal or char that has a whopping surface area of about 400 square meters per gram of mass. The plastic-to-char process was developed at UC Riverside’s Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering.
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Walgreens Boots Alliance exec talks plastic, packaging and COVID-19
GreenBiz
MARCH 1, 2021
Walgreens Boots Alliance exec talks plastic, packaging and COVID-19. One of those is reducing plastics in Boots-owned brand packaging, in line with the UK Plastics Pact 2025. Ellis: When the Plastics Pact came along, it was formulating and putting in place a series of targets to capitalize upon work that we were already doing.
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Introducing closed-loop circularity for hard-to-recycle automotive plastics
GreenBiz
APRIL 19, 2023
Sponsored: Molecular recycling can prevent this growing stream of waste from cars out of landfills.
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3 circular economy trends that defined 2020
GreenBiz
DECEMBER 21, 2020
In 2021, I’ll be watching CPG and food and beverage companies, which have been scrutinized for one-off pilots and an overall failure to move quickly enough towards commitments to make all packaging recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025. It’s (still) all about plastic. While source reduction continues to be the No. Subscribe here.
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5 sustainable packaging developments to watch in 2021
GreenBiz
JANUARY 4, 2021
That’s the year when many have pledged to become zero waste, or to use 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging. But COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in those plans, with single-use packaging skyrocketing, low fossil fuel prices and disrupted recycling systems, already weakened by China’s 2018 plastics waste ban. .
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