Waste & Recycling News
Rhea’s Factory and Niagara Bottling will test RheaCycle enzymatic PET recycling under industrial conditions at Niagara’s Vernon, California facility, with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory independently evaluating the system’s performance.
Borouge International plans to add nearly 14,000 tonnes of annual mechanical plastics recycling capacity across facilities in Germany and Austria. The Niedergebra expansion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027, while additional recycled polyethylene capacity at Wildon is expected later that year.
Cheap chargers, earbuds, LED lights, mini fans and electronic toys are creating a fast-growing e-waste stream. New European research finds 23% of consumers put unwanted Fast Tech in household waste, while recyclers face mounting lithium-battery fire risks.
Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Mine produced 69,546 ounces in the third quarter, up 14% year over year. Nine-month output has already surpassed the mine’s entire 2025 production as a major processing expansion approaches commissioning.
BIR’s October convention in Malaga will put recovered paper trade and regulation under the spotlight as tighter European fibre supply, stronger Asian demand and new EU waste-shipment rules reshape international recycling markets.
Antofagasta’s Centinela copper mine and two striking unions have returned to mediation after a week-long stoppage. Unions say truck activity has been cut roughly in half and warn November production could be hit if the dispute continues.
Germany is reminding consumers that old electronics can be returned free through municipal and retail channels, yet the country’s e-waste collection rate remains just 28.7% against a 65% target. New data also show millions of small “Fast Tech” devices are still being hoarded or thrown away.
Two subcontractor workers were killed after an avalanche struck the open-pit area of Codelco’s El Teniente copper mine in Chile. The affected pit remained suspended while underground mining and processing continued, adding another operational and safety setback for Chile’s copper industry.
Europe’s plastic recycling industry remains under heavy financial pressure from weak demand, shrinking margins, plant closures and competition from virgin resin and imported recyclates, according to BIR. New EU recycled-content rules offer longer-term support, but much of that demand will not arrive soon enough to relieve recyclers struggling today.
Copper is trading within 2% of its record high as an estimated 1.1 million tonnes of metal accumulates in the United States while mine disruptions in Chile tighten supply elsewhere.
Florence Copper has formally launched commercial operations in Arizona, becoming the first major new U.S. copper source from a greenfield project since 2008. The in-situ operation is already producing LME Grade A cathode and is ramping toward annual capacity of 85 million pounds.
New Jersey electronics recycler EACR Inc. is highlighting its zero-landfill policy, data destruction, collection programs and solar panel recycling services as global electronic waste continues to rise. The company has operated for more than 25 years from its Lakewood recycling facility.
Global non-ferrous scrap markets are facing a combination of EU export-policy uncertainty, uneven industrial demand, feedstock shortages and rising logistics costs, according to BIR. Europe, North America, India, the Middle East and Australasia are all experiencing different forms of pressure as recyclers adjust to shifting material flows.
Eldorado Gold’s Skouries copper-gold mine in Greece has been designated an EU Strategic Project under the Critical Raw Materials Act, formally recognizing its role in Europe’s copper supply strategy as the mine moves toward commercial production.
International E-Waste Day 2026 will focus on “Fast Tech,” the rapidly growing stream of inexpensive cables, earbuds, chargers, mini devices and other small electronics frequently thrown away or forgotten. Global e-waste reached 62 million tonnes in 2022, but only 22.3% was formally collected and recycled.
A strip brush is a simple but highly useful industrial component used to seal gaps, clean conveyors, guide products, control dust, manage static and protect equipment. Learn how strip brushes work, where they are used, the different bristle materials available and how to choose the right strip brush for your application.
Asia Pacific dominated the global paper packaging materials market in 2025, accounting for the largest revenue share of 38%.
Under the purchase terms, Northern Discovery will pay a total of $130,000 and issue 700,000 common shares in staged payments tied partly to drilling permits, while granting Orogen a 2% net smelter returns royalty reducible to 1.5% upon a future buy-down.
AV Group Nackawic’s planned idling is expected to reduce container traffic through Port Saint John, where the pulp mill accounts for roughly 8% to 10% of containerized traffic and as much as 15% to 20% of export containers. The port says it does not anticipate layoffs.
Circuit4EU is developing 10 technologies, including AI inspection, robotic disassembly, desoldering and hydrometallurgical recycling, to recover critical raw materials from electronic waste and help move more recovery processes toward industrial-scale deployment.
ALPLA will open a 13,000-square-meter plastic bottle manufacturing plant at the Craig Road Logistics Center in North Las Vegas in spring 2027. The facility will use extrusion blow moulding technology, create 36 jobs and expand the company's U.S. network to 19 locations.
More than 200 Buena Vista residents recycled 13,712 pounds of electronics during a September 26 collection event. Combined with the town's spring cleanup, Buena Vista has collected 16,158 pounds of e-waste in 2026, 23% more than last year.
Europe's paper recycling rate held at 76.4% in 2025 as 53.9 million tonnes of paper and board were collected and recycled. European mills used 46.3 million tonnes domestically, while net Paper for Recycling exports rose 13.9% to 7.5 million tonnes.
U.S. aluminum scrap imports jumped 36.8% year over year to 580,000 metric tons in the first half of 2026, valued at approximately $2.07 billion. Canada supplied nearly two-thirds of the total, while Canada and Mexico together accounted for about 86.6% of all imports.
Freeport-McMoRan says Grasberg mill throughput averaged approximately 140,000 metric tons per day in Q3 2026, equal to about 67% of normalized pre-incident rates. The company is targeting 80% capacity by mid-2027 and a return toward full production by year-end.