Advocacy Resources

The 2023 Plastics Recycling Conference is happening as a variety of factors continue to bring unprecedented attention to the business of plastics sustainability. Among those is a drumbeat of bills in state legislatures that shift responsibility for recycling management and funding, increase regulations on the recycling and packaging industries, and boost funding for recycling infrastructure […]

“As of early 2023, four states have passed laws requiring post-consumer recycled content in plastic packaging; several more states have proposed laws to date this year, and there are broad-scale proposals actively under development in Canada and the European Union.” Using post-consumer resin (PCR) content in plastic packaging is one of the most effective ways […]

During the Plastics Recycling Conference, which Resource Recycling hosted in partnership with its parent company, the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), in National Harbor, Maryland, in early March, Monica Medina, assistant secretary for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs for the U.S. Department of State, shared her insights into the development of the Global […]

A parade of industry representatives — the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), the Glass Packaging Institute, the Can Manufacturers Institute, machinery supplier Atlantic Packaging and bottled water maker Blue Triton — said they’d welcome more bottle bills, which put a refundable deposit, typically a nickel or dime, on beverage containers to incentivize recycling. “We are […]

On Jan. 24, 2023, Waste Dive hosted a panel discussion with four recycling policy experts, including Kate Bailey, chief policy officer for the APR, to learn more about upcoming trends and lessons learned from past years. Read the full article from Waste Dive.

Kate Eagles is a program director with the Association of Plastic Recyclers and studies the PET thermoform market. Her insights came across as hopeful but also realistic when it comes to market conditions. “We’re not quite there yet, but I see a path forward to getting there,” she said. “I think it’s fair to say […]

As in years past, 2022 saw significant developments, progress, and challenges for plastic packaging and the plastics recycling industry. Supply issues, legislative and regulatory proposals, negative media, as well as other areas of concern all combined to require greater levels of APR engagement and expertise. Policy, APR Design® for Recyclability, PCR Certification, and communications efforts […]

The legislation, the Washington Recycling and Packaging Act, could have a big impact on recycling more plastics packaging, including by increasing post-consumer recycled (PCR) content, APR said. “The bill’s powerful combo of EPR, a deposit system and PCR requirements is the gold standard to improve recycling,” APR said on Twitter. “If passed, this bill will […]

This report gets into how public policy and investment in post-consumer plastic collection and processing can help to meet sustainability ambitions.