The Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. is debuting two online recycling programs: a website, Plastics Recycling Marketplace, and a free webinar discussing China's "green fence" initiative.
The new site, RecyclePlastics365.org, is designed to connect buyers and sellers of scrap plastics materials and recycling services. It's open to both SPI members and non-members.
Companies are organized on the site by category. Users can find plastics recycling products and services via keyword search or by browsing through the categories.
More than 2,000 companies are currently listed on the site. Companies will be able to self-register for a free basic listing. They can also purchase an enhanced listing that allows them to include more information and do more self-promotion, said Kim Holmes, SPI's director of recycling.
“We really wanted to create a dynamic marketplace where anyone who wants to list business offerings or equipment or recycled plastic supply could do that,” she said by phone “(We wanted to) really bridge that link between supply and demand. We didn't want to limit that link in any fashion.”
The site also offers RFP (request for proposal) tools that allow buyers to contact suppliers based on search results, upload project specs and email a company RFP to selected vendors, according to a June 19 news release.
The site is the first of its kind to be comprehensive and keyword searchable, as well as include both post-consumer and post-industrial recycled materials, Holmes said.
The site is really about pairing users up with the right service provider, manufacturer or supplier to fit a certain need. That's unique, she said.
SPI also offers a plastics supplier's directory, Plastics365.org.
The webinar, set for July 2 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, will look at the impact of strict enforcement of green fence regulation on the Chinese recycling industry and how recyclers there are responding. It will also discuss how regulation has limited U.S. access to buyer markets for post-industrial and post-consumer material.
The webinar will be hosted by Holmes and Michael Taylor, SPI's senior director of international affairs and trade.
According to Washington-based SPI, both programs “illustrate the commitment the association made when it revised its mission statement to include moving the plastics industry toward ‘zero waste,' which includes focusing on issues that impact the recovery and recycling of scrap plastics.”