Here’s the Waste Robotics Market News including the 10 key news of this week in waste and recycling industries. This week, municipalities, cities, population and companies get involved in recycling and reducing waste.
Sonoco commits to sustainable packaging and recycling goals
August 7th, 2018 – Hartsville, South Carolina-based Sonoco has announced that it is expanding its environmental and social stewardship initiatives to include commitments to achieve greater packaging sustainability and recycling. The packaging company says the move supports the food industry’s efforts to reduce food waste, according to the company. Sonoco’s new time-based commitments, along with an update of its ongoing efforts to improve environmental, governance and social measure, are highlighted in its 2017-18 corporate responsibility report.
Read more on Waste Today
How China’s green wave is making recycling more expensive in Maine
August 13th, 2018 – Gouldsboro Town Manager Sherri Cox immediately cut a town service when, early into the new budget season, she discovered a steep rise in recycling fees that threatened to bust the budget. “We budgeted $80 per ton for curbside recycling, but I was told that could go up to $200 per ton by the end of this year,” she said. The $80 per ton amount was budgeted before a shocking May bill for $137 per ton arrived. “We had to stop recycling immediately,” Cox said when she saw the high bill and was told things would likely get worse.
Read more on Bangor Daily News
Apeel Sciences is combating food waste with plant-derived second peels
August 10th 2018 – In a world bursting with abundances like self-driving cars and robotic personal assistants, you would think that basic needs like sustainable food sourcing and distribution would be a problem of the past. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), every year roughly a third — 1.3 billion tons — of food grown for consumption is lost or wasted. In industrialized countries like the U.S., this results in a loss of $680 billion per year, and in countries without standardized infrastructure (such as proper cooling systems), this results in a loss of $310 billion per year.
Read more on Tech Crunch
Montrealers are using compost bags that contaminate organic waste, landfill company says
August 11th, 2018 – The bags most Montrealers use to line their compost bins are actually making it more difficult to compost what they contain, according to the director of the landfill that handles most of the city’s organic waste. Many of Montreal’s table scraps are sent to Dépôt Rive-Nord, a site about 80 kilometres northeast of the city. Its director, Gilles Denis, said the biodegradable bags made of material similar to plastic must be removed from the compost pile as early as the day of their arrival on site. They are then put in the garbage pile, and not composted. If they aren’t removed from the organic waste, they will contaminate the compost later in the process, he said.
Read more on CBC News
China hits back at US with tariff on scrap metals and waste wood
August 10th, 2018 – China has imposed a 25% tariff on $16bn of US goods including wood waste, paper and paper waste and scrap metal. The retaliatory measure in response to US tariffs comes into force on 23 August, the same day the US will begin collecting extra tariffs. It will apply to 333 categories of goods which also includes medical equipment, fuels, fish meal and cars and bicycles. Beijing’s commerce ministry said it had been forced to retaliate to America’s “very unreasonable” levies on $16bn of Chinese exports
Read more on Recycling & Waste World
Greater Manchester recycling campaign launched to improve quality
August 8th, 2018 – Residents of Greater Manchester will be asked to think twice about what they put in their recycling bins thanks to a new campaign. Recycle for Greater Manchester has teamed up with Salford City council to spotlight wrong items often found in residents’ paper and card bins. Dirty nappies, wet wipes, leftover food and electrical items are some of the main offenders. Leaflets asking residents ‘What’s in the Box?’ will be delivered to 86,000 homes along with stickers on bins and supporting advertising and social media activity.
Read more on Recycling & Waste World
Global Market Changes Mean Higher Recycling Costs
August 10th, 2018 – Vermont’s Chittenden Solid Waste District urges residents to get better at reducing how much waste they generate amid global upheavals. Disruptions in the global markets—particularly China’s import ban and now the recent tariffs China is enacting on North America—have created some headwinds for U.S. solid waste and recycling companies. And those disruptions will end up trickling down to residents’ pocketbooks. Chittenden County, Vt., is currently feeling the impacts of global upheaval, and the Chittenden Solid Waste District is urging residents to be more aware of what belongs in a recycling bin and what does not. It also noted that residents need to get better at reducing how much waste they generate.
Read more on Waste 360
Walmart plans zero-waste DC in BC
August 7th, 2018 – Walmart Canada plans to invest more than $175 million to build a new 300,000 square foot, high-tech, state-of-the-art fresh, frozen grocery facility in Surrey, B.C. The building’s designers will focus on sustainability, including plans for it to be a zero-waste facility when it opens in early 2022. The company says the new facility will create between 150 to 200 new, long-term jobs, as well as 300 skilled construction and engineering roles to support the 14- to 18-month build period once construction begins in early 2021. “Walmart Canada is delighted to build our new fulfillment centre in Surrey,” said John Bayliss, senior vice-president, logistics and supply chain, Walmart Canada.
Read more on Solid Waste & Recycling
ERA and Hi Tech Recyclers partnership results in recycling of over 700 tons of e-waste
August 8th, 2018 – The Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) has been working to reduce unnecessary electronic waste since 2004 throughout Canada. Many of us are unaware of the toxic chemicals that derive from electronic devices. Take a cell phone as an example, it has over 500 components and many contain toxic metals such as mercury, lead, beryllium, and cadmium. Over the past five years the ERA has been working with Hi Tech Recyclers, an Alberta Recycling (ARMA) certified recycler, to recycle e-waste from the province, comprised of unusable TV’s, printers and electronics that could not be reused.
Read more on Recycling Product News
Baby food maker offering packaging recycling
August 13th, 2018 – Nutrition-focused infant and toddler food brand Love Child Organics is now providing consumers a free, easy way to recycle its packaging. Through a new partnership with TerraCycle, Love Child Organics created the Love Child Organics Recycling Program to provide consumers a method of recycling their BPA-free pouches, snack wrappers and bags. “Love Child is thrilled to partner with TerraCycle on this initiative,” said Erin Grosberg, senior brand manager of Love Child Organics.
Read more on Solid Waste & Recycling
