recycling

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California Sues ExxonMobil Over Recycling 'Myth'

State blames the industry giant for creating a world filled with unrecyclable plastic

(Newser) - California has just filed a blockbuster lawsuit against ExxonMobil, alleging that the industry giant has been lying for years about how easy it is to recycle plastic, reports the Guardian .
  • "For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste
...

Keurig Pays $1.5M Penalty for K-Cup Recycling Claims

SEC says company failed to disclose that big recycling companies didn't intend to accept the pods

(Newser) - Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. will pay $1.5 million to settle charges that it made inaccurate statements about the recyclability of its K-Cup single use beverage pods, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  • In annual reports for fiscal years 2019 and 2020, Kuerig stated that its testing with recycling
...

The Very Green Problem With Blended Fabrics

Washington Post breaks down which materials to shop for so clothing can have a second life

(Newser) - Purchasing some new threads? Then check the label for this sustainability marker: 100%. That's what the Washington Post advises in a rundown of how consumers can help keep fabrics from clogging up landfills. They argue that we can make a difference by eschewing blended fabrics, made from multiple materials...

Newfangled Form of Plastic Recycling Called a 'Delusion'

A ProPublica investigation calls process of pyrolysis an industry-hyped bust

(Newser) - If the plastics industry is to be believed, a new type of chemical recycling called pyrolysis is poised to solve many of the well-documented —and alarming —problems with plastic. The only hitch? Pyrolysis is a "delusion," declares a ProPublica investigation. As journalist Lisa Song explains, pyrolysis...

The Inside of Your Amazon Box Looks Different Now

Those plastic air pillows are (mostly) a thing of the past

(Newser) - If you've long enjoyed the satisfying sound of popping the air pillows that come in your Amazon box, you'll have to settle for a crinkling noise instead. The company on Thursday announced it has made major strides in its effort to eliminate plastic packaging material from its boxes...

Big Apple Is Going to Lengths to Recycle Those Pizza Boxes

The containers of the city's most iconic food is getting its own personal recycling bin

(Newser) - New York City might as well be called the Big Pizza instead of the Big Apple, and Central Park is taking a rather unprecedented step toward recycling the boxes that hold that favorite pie: a recycling bin specifically designed to accept pizza boxes. "People want to do the right...

UN: Our E-Waste Problem Is Getting Out of Control

The planet generated 62M tons of it in 2022

(Newser) - UN agencies have warned that electrical and electronic waste is piling up worldwide while recycling rates remain low and are likely to fall even further. In a new report released Wednesday, the UN's International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR said some 62 million tons of "e-waste"—...

QR Codes Set to Replace Confusing Recycling Symbols

Recycling scans on packaging will give more detailed info by location

(Newser) - What you can recycle depends on where you live, making the labels on paper, glass, metal, and plastic confusing. The Consumer Brand's Association (CBA) aims to remedy that using pretty simple technology. Axios reports that the group is working with brands to add QR codes to their packaging that...

Tennis Has a Recycling Problem
Tennis Has a
Recycling Problem
Sep 10, 2023 8:30 AM CDT

Tennis Has a Recycling Problem

Tennis balls can't be recycled, and experts are grappling with how to manage that waste

(Newser) - Tennis has a fuzzy yellow problem most players don't think about when they open can after can of fresh balls, or when umpires at US Open matches make their frequent requests for "new balls please." Because tennis balls are extremely hard to recycle and the industry has...

8 Busted in Alleged California Recycling Scam

They allegedly brought in tons of cans and bottles from Arizona

(Newser) - California charges an extra 5 or 10 cents on bottles and cans, which can be redeemed when they're returned to a recycling center—and those nickels and dimes can add up to a lot of money, especially if you're bringing in out-of-state containers by the ton. The state...

Researchers Find Unhappy Surprise in Plastic Recycling
Researchers Find Unhappy
Surprise in Plastic Recycling
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 27, 2023 6:00 AM CDT

Researchers Find Unhappy Surprise in Plastic Recycling

The process of breaking down the material releases microplastics into the air, says study

(Newser) - A new study on the recycling of plastic offers a disturbing surprise: In one way, the process may make the environmental problem worse. In the peer-reviewed study at ScienceDirect , UK researchers suggest that recycling plants create and release a troubling amount of microplastic pollution as they break down and wash...

PepsiCo Sets 'Not Easy' Packaging Goal for Doritos

Company wants all packaging for its snack brands to be compostable or otherwise green by 2030

(Newser) - Most people like their chips crunchy, but one of the nation's largest food and beverage conglomerates wants the bags they come in to dissolve softly and safely into the earth and ether. On Wednesday, the head of PepsiCo Foods North America, Steven Williams, popped up during the virtual CNBC...

Unwanted US Atom Bombs Become Parts for New Ones

Some experts call stockpile in warehouses dangerous and provocative to other nations

(Newser) - In warehouses and bunkers throughout the nation, parts pulled from disassembled atomic bombs are stored, ready to be recycled into new weapons. Atomic bombs aren't thrown away when they're pulled from service, the New York Times reports; they're pulled apart and sent to the equivalent of a...

Plastic Recycling Is a Farce
Plastic Recycling
Is a Fool's Errand
new report
Oct 25, 2022 3:17 PM CDT

Plastic Recycling Is a Fool's Errand

Greenpeace report says the problem is most plastic just can't be recycled

(Newser) - "Plastic recycling is a dead-end street." So proclaims a new Greenpeace report that makes that very case using an underwhelming set of stats regarding the scant amount of plastic that's recycled in the US. Per the report, at our peak in 2014, America recycled 9.5% of...

Say Goodbye to Sprite's Green Bottles

Coca-Cola says it's switching to clear plastic to boost recycling efforts

(Newser) - Sprite's green plastic bottles will soon be a thing of the past. Coca-Cola says it's changing the packaging of Sprite and other beverages, including Fresca, to clear plastic so it can step up recycling, CNN reports. The green polyethylene terephthalate—PET—currently used in Sprite bottles can be...

Plastic Recycling Is a Hoax
Plastic Recycling Is a Hoax
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 14, 2022 6:30 AM CDT

Plastic Recycling Is a Hoax

Environmental groups say the plastics industry has been lying all along

(Newser) - Last year, Americans recycled at most 6% of their plastic waste, according to a report released Wednesday by a pair of environmental groups. It's a number that's even worse than it used to be. Every American produced an average 218 pounds of plastic waste in 2018, per Reuters,...

Adult Diapers Are a Scourge in Japan—and an Opportunity

Rather than incinerating them, diapers are starting to be recycled

(Newser) - It's a somewhat ominous-sounding sentence, but the comparison isn't as grim as it seems: "The operations slightly evoke the factory scenes from Soylent Green, the 1973 dystopian thriller in which nutrition wafers are made from human remains." So write Motoko Rich and Makiko Inoue for the...

Competition for Empty Plastic Bottles Is Heating Up

Recycled PET now costs more than virgin plastic

(Newser) - Companies in the US and worldwide are facing a major shortage of something that often ends up in the trash: empty plastic bottles. With governments including those of California and Washington state introducing mandatory recycled content quotas for some items and major companies bringing in voluntary targets, producers are having...

Your Cotton Bag Isn't Saving the Planet. Maybe the Opposite

It takes a lot of water to grow cotton

(Newser) - How many cotton tote bags do you have shoved into closets and cabinets and your car trunk? If the answer is too many, but you've at least consoled yourself that you're doing the planet good, bad news. In a piece for the New York Times on our "...

Fire Drew Phoenix's Biggest Response Ever

Recycling yard blaze could be seen from space

(Newser) - With the huge fire in a Phoenix recycling yard down to a few smoking hotspots Monday, the scale of the weekend blaze became clear. The Phoenix Fire Department mounted the largest response in its history, the Arizona Republic reports. At one point Saturday, the day the blaze started, more than...

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