The company will support the initiative's goals of closing the loop for polypropylene using technologies developed by Nextek Ltd.

LyondellBasell, a chemicals and refining company based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, has joined an initiative that brings more than 40 major industry players together. NextLoopp aims to create circular food-grade recycled polypropylene (PP) from postconsumer packaging.  

“To unlock the full value of plastics, critical gaps must be addressed so these valuable resources can be circulated back into the economy after use,” says Richard Roudeix, a regional senior vice president of olefins and polyolefins at LyondellBasell.

“The development of innovative, new solutions and the increase of recycling rates is key to addressing plastic waste and climate change. In the area of postconsumer polypropylene for food packaging, we are eager to join and support the research of the NextLoopp project, together with other industry players, to help find new solutions,” Roudeix adds.  

NextLoopp says PP is the most widely used plastic in food packaging. NextLoopp can close the loop on PP by using a combination of technologies, developed by United Kingdom-based Nextek Ltd. It does this by separating food-grade PP from the rest and by decontaminating the polymer to ensure compliance with food-grade standards in the U.K., EU and the U.S.

Following the results of its tracer-based sorting trials, Nextek Ltd. recently started production trials of food-grade compliant recycled PP. This makes more than 60 products from NextLoopp's four grades of PPristine food compliant and INRT recycled PP grade resins.

“We are delighted to welcome LyondellBasell to our project,” says Edward Kosior, founder and CEO of Nextek Ltd. and NextLoopp. “As we continue to build momentum LyondellBasell’s expertise in delivering technologies that advance solutions to our world’s biggest challenges will be key.” 

The act provides a framework for the sale and purchase of scrap metal to help reduce the theft of catalytic converters.

Bill 9, the Scrap Metal Act, and its corresponding Scrap Metal Regulation have gone into effect in Manitoba as part of the government’s plan to address the problem of scrap metal theft in the province.

Under the new framework, dealers must record details of their transactions related to scrap metal, defined as a used item made of aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, iron, lead, steel, stainless steel, tin or a prescribed metal or alloy. Dealers must keep the transaction records for two years and provide them to a peace officer when requested. In addition, cash transactions are not permitted for any transaction over $50.

“The Scrap Metal Act, along with the Scrap Metal Regulation, outlines a framework that applies to the sale and purchase of scrap metal in Manitoba,” says Manitoba Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen. “The act and regulation will significantly reduce the theft of catalytic converters by disrupting the resale opportunities for illegally obtained scrap metal.”

Goertzen says the transactions involving metal containers normally recycled to avoid waste, such as paint cans, as well as coins, bullion and jewelry are exempt from the record-keeping requirement. According to a news release from the provincial government’s website, transactions involving restricted items—defined as being highly vulnerable to theft and resale, such as catalytic converters, or having significant intrinsic value, such as plaques, monuments and statues—have more stringent rules.

In addition to the record-keeping requirements for general scrap metal, any transactions involving restricted items must include a photograph that provides sufficient detail to identify the item. The government website states that the complete records must be submitted to the scrap metal dealer’s local law enforcement agency within seven days. Cash transactions are not permitted for restricted items.

Law enforcement, nonprofit partners and other government agencies are helping to combat catalytic converter theft in Manitoba, including the Winnipeg Police Service, Winnipeg Crime Stoppers, Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) and Criminal Property Forfeiture (CPF). CPF provided grants to both the Winnipeg Crime Stoppers and the Steinbach RCMP to implement projects to combat the theft of catalytic converters by marking and having catalytic converters engraved with vehicle identification numbers (VIN). With an engraved VIN, police can trace the owners of recovered catalytic converters, and individuals with illegally obtained catalytic converters can be charged for being in possession of stolen goods.

“Winnipeg Crime Stoppers appreciates the funding supplied by Criminal Property Forfeiture. Along with the help of our many partners in the community, this provided us the opportunity to develop the ‘Save Your Cat’ program,” says Paul Johnson, chairperson of Winnipeg Crime Stoppers. “We were able to provide one more idea to address the epidemic of catalytic converter thefts. Identification is a key to prosecuting the criminals responsible.”

“The thefts of catalytic converters are affecting many Manitobans, and in the Steinbach area, we have certainly seen an increase in this type of crime,” says Supt. Jim Mirza, acting Criminal Operations Officer, Manitoba RCMP. “I am proud of the initiative shown by our Steinbach detachment in applying for Criminal Property Forfeiture funds to purchase engravers to give to local mechanic shops. Our hope is that this will increase our ability to enforce against this crime and reduce the number of Manitobans who become victim to it.”

The Recycling Partnership’s Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition grant will help EFS-plastics increase recycling capacity at its site in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

The Recycling Partnership’s Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition has awarded its first film packaging capture grant to EFS-plastics, an Ontario-based company that specializes in plastic film recycling.

According to a news release from The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, the $200,000 grant will pay for new shredding equipment for EFS-plastics’ facility in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, increasing the facility’s recycling capacity by an additional 560,000 pounds per month and laying the groundwork to scale residential film and flexibles plastics recycling. In addition, the grant helps to fund testing at EFS-plastics’ Listowel, Ontario, facility to reprocess material into pellets for new products and packaging.

“Recycling more film will have benefits for the recycling system as a whole,” says EFS-plastics Director of Business Development and Procurement Eadaoin Quinn. “Film is a contaminant for many recyclers, but if we can turn more of it into new products, we can reduce the burden on [material recovery facilities] caused by film while also putting more plastics back into new products rather than into a landfill or incinerator.”

The Recycling Partnership says its Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition, part of its Pathway to Circularity Initiative, includes a broad group of industry stakeholders seeking to increase curbside collection of film recycling and support end markets for film and flexible products. The coalition’s primary focus is to prove efficient and effective collection through pilot projects as well as infrastructure and optimization grants, complementing The Recycling Partnership’s grant programs for material recovery facilities.

The Recycling Partnership tells Recycling Today its Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition plans to award up to four additional grants this year, with more to come in 2023.

“We are thrilled to announce this grant to EFS-plastics, an important testing ground and milestone in the coalition’s mission to increase collection of film and flexible packaging,” says Sarah Dearman, vice president of circular ventures at The Recycling Partnership. “The partnership believes that a successful system of the future will address recyclability challenges for all materials, and with so much of this valuable material found in every U.S. household, investments to support scaling film and flexible plastic recycling are important and necessary.”

The mission-driven work of the Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition is supported by contributions from organizations representing all segments of the material’s value chain, including steering committee members American Chemistry Council, Dow, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, The Kraft Heinz Co., Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson and the Walmart Foundation. Other Coalition members include Amcor, Amp Robotics, Berry Global, Campbell Soup Co., Flexible Packaging Association, Happy Family Organics, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., Kellogg Company, Keurig Dr Pepper, Mars Inc., Mondelez International, Nature Valley and Nestlé. The coalition is advised by industry leaders Association of Plastic Recyclers and Sustainable Packaging Coalition.

El Paso citizens will receive a cash incentive for their PET thermoforms through the pilot with Sam’s Club locations.

A six-month pilot project to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) thermoformed packaging launched earlier this month in El Paso, Texas. The program is a collaboration among Sam's Club locations in El Paso, Texan by Nature (TxN) and Texans for Clean Water (TFCW) and is described as “a fundamental step in TxN and TFCW’s goal of reducing litter in waterways and roadways through community-driven recycling.”

In North America, 1.6 billion pounds of PET thermoformed containers are discarded annually, and only 10 percent are recovered, TxN says in a news release about the project.

El Paso residents will receive cash incentives for PET thermoforms dropped off at all four Sam’s Clubs locations in El Paso for recycling. PET thermoformed containers include clear fruit and produce containers, trays, tubs, cups, lids and plastic egg cartons, for example. Data and outcomes from the project will be shared with other retailers as a model for replication and an example of supply chain circularity, according to TxN.

During the pilot project, consumers will use the MeCycle App to drop off their PET thermoforms and will receive cash incentives that they can claim through Venmo or donate to an El Paso charity. Green Impact Plastics, Vernon, California, will recycle the thermoforms, and manufacturer D6 will use the rPET in new packaging. To help improve the circularity of its supply chain, Sam’s Club also will explore opportunities to use the recycled packaging for some of its products.

“Litter and illegal dumping cost the city of El Paso $6 million per year,” TxN CEO and President Joni Carswell says. “This pilot has a goal of recycling 110,000 pounds of PET plastics over six months, keeping it off roadways and out of waterways. This collaboration between the citizens of El Paso, Texans for Clean Water and Sam’s Club will build on prior models of providing financial incentives for material return that have been successful in reducing litter and waste.”

Fully funded by Texans for Clean Water, the project dovetails with other litter research initiatives and public policy outreach. TxN is managing the pilot and working closely with community partners on messaging, education and promotion of the pilot. 

“We’re excited to play a role in making recycling more accessible for the El Paso community,” says Christopher Poulin, vice president, regional general manager of operations, at Sam’s Club. “This pilot aligns with our goals to become a regenerative company, and we’ll be exploring ways to use the recycled materials collected to make packaging for some of the products we sell.”

"This pilot is focusing on PET thermoforms, but it could be translated to other materials,” adds Maia Corbitt, president of Texans for Clean Water. “Point being, people don't toss loose change out car windows and will still stop to pick up a dime off the sidewalk. Plus, getting this material back supports Texas' recycling industry, and we're proud to champion projects that are a win-win for the environment and economy."

Novelis will use Sortera's scrap metal sorting technologies to increase recycled content in its automotive sheet products.

Atlanta-based aluminum producer Novelis Inc. has announced a strategic partnership with Sortera Alloys Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Sortera is a scrap metal sorting and recycling company that was spun out from the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) project in the U.S. Department of Energy, which seeks to advance high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment. The company has developed and patented sorting technology that uses artificial intelligence- (AI-) based sensor sorters to upgrade shredded nonferrous scrap feedstock streams and remove unwanted contaminants.

Novelis says it will use Sortera's advanced sorting technologies, including data analytics and advanced sensors, to recycle and reuse more automotive postproduction and postconsumer scrap.

Using Sortera’s technology, Novelis says it will be able to effectively separate mixed automotive scrap into individual alloys and recycle them back into the same product, allowing the aluminum producer to meet original equipment makers' needs for performance, durability, safety and design.

"Our partnership with Sortera will allow Novelis to continue to increase the amount of recycled content in our automotive alloys and subsequently reduce our carbon footprint," says Derek Prichett, senior vice president, Corporate Development, at Novelis, in a news release about the partnership. "It also aligns with our goal of becoming a fully circular business, as we will be able to keep more automotive aluminum in our supply chain and redirect it back into the same products."

The partnership supports Novelis' sustainability goals to reduce its carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2026 and to be carbon neutral by 2050 or sooner. Using recycled aluminum as input material requires approximately 5 percent of the energy used to make primary aluminum, thus avoiding approximately 95 percent of the carbon emissions associated with production, the company says.

Earlier this year, Novelis announced that it would invest $365 million in a highly advanced recycling center in Guthrie, Kentucky, that will be able to cast 240,000 tons of sheet ingot for its automotive customers per year. The company says the facility is expected to reduce its carbon emissions by more than 1 million tons annually and to add approximately 140 jobs.

Beatriz Landa, vice president of metal procurement and recycling for Novelis North America, told Recycling Today earlier this year that the investment to produce its own recycled-content automotive aluminum ingots will allow Novelis to become “more sustainable and more independent in the market.”

"We are thrilled to work with Novelis, the global leader in sustainable aluminum solutions," says Michael Siemer, CEO, Sortera Alloys. "Together with existing investors like Chrysalix and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and now Novelis, we are poised to disrupt the global aluminum recycling space while cutting global emissions and driving a more sustainable industry."

Sortera recently received $10 million in funding led by Assembly Ventures, with additional funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures and aluminum producer Novelis. In that announcement, Sortera referred to “a significant partnership with Novelis that will see Sortera deliver high-quality, recycled alloy derived from automotive scrap to Novelis.” However, Sortera declined to comment further on the partnership at that time, indicating that a separate announcement would be made.

Recycling Today has reached out to Novelis and Sortera for more information on the partnership.