Katherine Huded, The Recycling Partnership’s executive director of Material Systems. As more US states pass EPR legislation, PET thermoforming faces policy challenges, with some states labeling them “unrecyclable” due to a lack of end markets where the recycled materials can be turned into new products. However, with targeted investment, PET thermoforms have the potential to be added back to recycling lists as more US states roll out EPR, improving the material’s acceptance across the country, according to Katherine Huded, The Recycling Partnership’s executive director of Material Systems
The Recycling Partnership: Policy pressure mounts for PET thermoforms as US states enact EPR
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Resolute earned top marks for sustainability leadership at Business Intelligence Group’s (BIG) 2018 Sustainability Awards. BIG recognizes organizations and individuals who have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice, and who honor their sustainability commitments. This marks the second consecutive year Resolute has been recognized by the Sustainability Awards. In 2017, Seth Kursman, vice president, Corporate Communications, Sustainability and Government Affairs, received the top individual honor. “We are particularly proud of receiving the highest rating in 2018, as it recognizes our comprehensive sustainability strategy, which is designed to enhance our competitive position. Our approach reinforces our vision that profitability and sustainability drive our future,” said Kursman. “As an industry leader, we’ve moved beyond minimal regulatory compliance and environmental incident management to commit to transparency and maintaining annual sustainability reporting.” Click Read More below for additional information.
A recent article in The New York Times, (“Maine Will Make Companies Pay for Recycling. Here’s How It Works.” 7/21/21) explored Maine’s dramatic new recycling law. But it also missed the point on paper recycling. In a letter to the editor, AF&PA responded to set the record straight: Telling readers the U.S. “recycling rate for plastics and paper products” is 32 percent is like telling them the average elevation of Denver and Death Valley is about half a mile. It may be technically true, but it clouds over more than it reveals. Whatever is true of plastic, the fact is that for all paper, the recycling rate was 66 percent in 2020. The recycling rate for paper-based packaging specifically—like cardboard boxes and corrugated containers—was a whopping 89 percent. In fact, more paper is recycled by weight from municipal waste streams than plastic, glass, steel and aluminum combined. In the context of a story about proposals in several jurisdictions that would turn our current recycling system on its head, these distinctions matter a great deal. Extended producer responsibility programs would disrupt the most effective recycling streams in the interest of improving the least effective, while imposing large new costs on producers who are already being responsible by investing capital to innovate and use a highly renewable and recyclable material—paper.
Canfor Corporation is issuing an open letter from Don Kayne, President and CEO, calling for an approach to the management of British Columbia’s old growth forests that is based on the facts of sound science and Indigenous traditional knowledge and a collaborative process that includes broad representation. “We can choose a path that brings First Nations, labour leaders, forestry professionals and communities together to develop a sustainable old growth management plan that protects our forests and ensures sustainable employment for our communities. We are asking the Government of British Columbia to rethink the old growth deferral process,” said Don Kayne, President and CEO, Canfor. “Together, we can build on the 75% of old growth forests that are already protected or outside harvesting areas.”