Plastopedia

Speciality composite reinforcements manufacturer FORMAX has created a Recycling Division and is now able to reprocess the majority of its glass and carbon fibre waste.

What a difference a few years can make.

Following the selection of the new Pope in March, a pair of images from Rome made rounds on the Internet: a 2013 photo that captured thousands of people with smart phones and tablets recording the Papal pageantry, coupled with a similar photo from 2005 – with only a single person using a flip phone.

If you're an attendee of a conference, of any kind, typically the drama factor is pretty low, especially toward the end of the day when people are more concerned about if they will order steak or fish at dinner and if a bottle of wine is a bit excessive for a Tuesday night.

Mills Industries designs and manufactures plastic corrugated packaging and containers. The products are centered on sustainability, using polypropylene plastic that is 100% recyclable.

CONCORD, N.C. — Before hanging on a rack, your average ensemble arrives at the store wrapped in individual plastic bags packaged inside cardboard boxes. It ensures clothing stays clean and preserved. It also ensures that stores have pounds of flexible plastic packaging waste to deal with.

Plastic packaging recycling in the UK may need to double from the level recorded in 2011 if the UK is to meet its 2017 packaging recycling target, according to plastics recycling body Recoup.

Belgian plastics association Federplast.be, environmental NGOs and the Belgian-Dutch association of coastal communities have signed a resolution to stop the dumping of plastic waste in the North Sea and other rivers and seas.

VinylPlus reports more than 360,000 metric tons of PVC plastic scrap in Europe was recycled in 2012.

VinylPlus has released a report showing that a record 362,076 metric tons of PVC plastic was recycled in 2012.

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co. has acquired a 10 percent stake in the Greek company Filia Environmental Industries S.A., which opened a PET recycling plant in Filiates of Thesprotia, Greece. Coca-Cola Hellenic operates in 28 countries and had sales of more than 2 billion unit cases in 2012.

“Everybody’s talking about going green,” Joe Filipowicz said. And scrap-metal recycler Steel Etc. has jumped into the mix, moving toward becoming a full-service recycling center. “We just started taking cardboard, newspapers and plastic bottles last week,” the company’s recycling manager said.

PET recyclers in Germany are battling low collection volumes and high energy costs, putting them at a disadvantage with European and international competitors, warns one association based in the country.

Every industry in the country is a fully developed industry that makes a major contribution to the economic growth of the country. In a similar manner, the plastic components industry has turned out to be one of the most burgeoning industries in the country.

Aided by the addition of thermoformed polystyrene and polyester packaging and molded tubs and lids to some municipal collection programs, Canadians recycled an additional 24 per cent of plastic packaging and products in 2011 compared to 2010, according to a new report released by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association.

The owners of Bata Plastics Inc. say they want everyone to know about the benefits of recycling plastic.

The family-owned company hopes that millions will get the message this Sunday when their company is featured on “The Environmental Report with Terry Bradshaw.” The segment is scheduled to air on the Fox Business Network at 4 p.m.

Dear EarthTalk: Has recycling lived up to its promise to reduce waste and pollution, save energy and provide jobs in our ailing economy?                  -- Ian Atkinson, New York, NY

Americans still don’t recycle as much as they could. Nonetheless, the practice is already considered a huge success given that it keeps about a third of the solid waste we generate out of our quickly filling landfills and saves natural resources while generating much-needed revenue for struggling municipal governments. Recycling also helps us keep our carbon footprints down: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recycling one ton of aluminum cans conserves more than 1,665 gallons of gasoline.