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A review of plastics recycling in the USA with policy recommendations
- Constantine Hadjilambrinos
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 23 / Issue 4 / December 1996
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 15 October 2009, pp. 298-306
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Plastics are the fastest-growing component of municipal solid waste in the USA, and over the past decade there has been increasing public demand for plastics recycling. However, the necessity to separate the various plastic resins to make their recycling possible, combined with the low cost of virgin resins, make this technically difficult and expensive.
Most sorting of plastic waste is done manually, and this method has been constrained to the diversion of only one or two types of plastics, because human sorters are incapable of distinguishing different plastics. A number of technologies are being developed in order to address this problem. Use of these technologies requires considerable capital investment and this makes many of them economically unfeasible at present. The federal, state, and local governments in the USA have continued to explore demand-side policy measures in an effort to promote market formation and operation. Where they have been successful, in the establishment of markets for recycled polyethylene terepthalate (PET), and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) resins, demand has outpaced supply, highlighting the need to find more effective methods to sort and divert different plastic resins. Even with these supply shortages, and with prices for virgin PET and HDPE at historic highs, however, most plastics recycling remains only marginally profitable. This demonstrates the need for continued policy support for the still-developing plastics recycling industry and recycled-plastics market.
An analysis of the factors driving the recycling of PET, HDPE and polypropylene indicates that, as long as manual sorting is used, it would make sense for supply- and demand-side policies to focus on the recycling of particular plastic products that are easy to recognize, rather than resins that are not. Appropriate policies can help make specific products easily recognizable sources of specific resins. Such policies, implemented in conjunction with measures designed to facilitate capital investments and promote the establishment and operation of markets for all resins, are necessary to increase significantly the recycling of plastic waste above present levels.
The USA plastics recycling industry: a survey of manufacturers and vendors of recycled plastic products
- CONSTANTINE HADJILAMBRINOS
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 26 / Issue 2 / March 1999
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 10 May 2002, pp. 125-135
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Despite efforts spanning more than a decade, plastics continue to be the least recycled component of the USA's municipal waste stream. This study addresses a significant gap in knowledge about the operation of the plastics recycling market by investigating and analysing the characteristics and experiences of manufacturers and vendors of consumer products with recycled plastics content.
The study collected information through a survey of this segment of the USA's plastics recycling industry. The analysis of this information confirmed that the industry, as a whole, is young. Nevertheless, it offers a very wide variety of products. These face stiff competition from virgin resin plastic products, or from other virgin competing materials such as wood and cotton. Recycled plastic products are often more expensive than their competitors. Some manufacturers and vendors, especially the younger ones, addressed this problem by finding a niche market with consumers who are willing to pay a premium for environmentally friendly products. On the other hand, companies whose products are successfully competing against virgin products are more likely to have operated longer, to be vertically integrated (producing raw materials and consumer products), and to be more diversified in the number of resins they handle.
Manufacturers and vendors of recycled plastic products in the USA have gained considerable experience since the early years of plastics recycling. Nonetheless, they continue to face some serious challenges. Operators of materials recovery facilities that process PCR have an important role to play in supporting the industry by improving the quality of their product (i.e. PCR). However, the most important factor for securing continued growth of the industry is the expansion of markets for the industry's products. The responses to the survey indicate that, while there are actions that manufacturers and vendors can take to increase their chances of success, the effect of government policy remains overwhelming. Policymakers can facilitate growth in plastics recycling by stepping up their efforts to implement effective demand-side policies and by adopting policies to internalize the environmental and social externalities of plastics manufacturing and use.