Graduates of the 2020 high school class in Atlanta, Georgia, are going to be wearing their graduation garb made of recycled plastic bottles. Coca-Cola began collecting plastic bottles at its headquarters as part of Earth Day activities. The goal is to gather 7,000 bottles, enough to make graduation outfits for 200 graduates. 

The Forum for EPS Recycling, EPSY, organized within the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. (German Association for Plastics Packaging and Films), and the airpop expert group state that airpop/Styrofoam can — and is — being recycled successfully.

A coalition including many of the world’s largest consumer product companies, along with international recycling leader TerraCycle, today unveiled a global, first-of-its-kind, shopping system called Loop. The initiative is designed to change the world’s reliance on single-use packaging, offer a convenient and enhanced circular solution to consumers while securing meaningful environmental benefits.

Nearly 30 companies from the plastics and consumer goods value chain launched the new “Alliance to End Plastic Waste” (AEPW). The goal is to develop and bring to scale solutions that will minimize and manage plastic waste, and promote solutions for used plastics by helping to enable a circular economy. 

AMERIPEN and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation have issued “Unwrapping Ambitious Packaging Commitments in the U.S.," a report highlighting opportunities and challenges in pursuit of 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging goals. 

Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics has announced Tim Boven as the new recycling commercial director for Latin America and North America and Carsten Larsen as recycling commercial director for EMEA & APAC. 

The Kraft Heinz Company announced the expansion of its environmental strategy to include achieving greater packaging sustainability and setting goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Plastics Recycling Europe and The Association of Plastic Recyclers have developed a global definition governing the use of the term “recyclable” as it relates to plastics packaging and products, in hopes to provide a consistent metric to guide the efforts of sustainability for plastics in the Circular Economy.