Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
April 23, 2020 03:24 PM

Plastics groups seek $1B for recycling in COVID bills

Steve Toloken
Assistant Managing Editor
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    The Recycling Partnership
    Elizabeth Biser, vice president of external affairs, The Recycling Partnership

    Washington — A coalition of plastics companies and trade groups is urging Congress to include up to $1 billion in recycling funding in future coronavirus legislation, saying that it fears recyclables collection could be hit hard by the pandemic.

    The group, which includes major plastics trade associations and companies like Berry Global Group, Dow Inc. and LyondellBasell Industries, is telling Washington that more funding would help maintain critical supplies of materials, even as some cities and states cut back on collection and curtail enforcement of bottle deposit programs.

    The group, including the Plastics Industry Association and the Association of Plastic Recyclers, want lawmakers to include a piece of legislation they helped introduce last year, the Recover Act, into any COVID-19 relief bills.

    Congress is widely expected to consider at least two more rounds of coronavirus aid packages, including another large measure in early May.

    "Many localities have reduced/eliminated recycling collection or suspended enforcement of bottle deposit laws, greatly reducing a much-needed manufacturing feedstock," the plastics group said in an April 16 letter to top House leaders in both parties. "This immediate investment would start to reverse the current trend of landfilling recyclable materials, which has only been exacerbated by this pandemic."

    The coalition also includes the American Chemistry Council, the Flexible Packaging Association and Eastman Chemical Co., but neither the lobbying effort nor the Recover Act are solely focused on plastics.

    Plastics groups are a large part of the coalition but it’s material neutral and includes those concerned with recycling of all materials, like the Solid Waste Association of North America, The Recycling Partnership and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. It also includes the Glass Packaging Institute.

    It's the second recent push among industry groups over COVID-19 and recycling. A separate coalition has been raising concerns with state governments that cutbacks in enforcement around bottle bill programs, done to limit the spread of coronavirus, could inadvertently hurt recycling of PET, glass and aluminum containers.

    A key driver for the business groups is having supplies available to meet commitments of large brand owning companies like Coca-Cola Co. and Unilever plc, which have pledged to use substantially more recycled content in their plastic packaging in the next five to 10 years.

    Steve Alexander, president and CEO of the Association of Plastic Recyclers, said the push to include the Recover Act in COVID-19 legislation is not intended to replace longer-term discussions around recycling funding.

    "While we understand — and support — why there would naturally be requests to deal with the recycling infrastructure impacts of the economic shutdown, the infrastructure needs facing recycling industries of all materials will continue to require significant attention and funding beyond the current funding sources related to COVID," Alexander said.

    In its letter, the group noted, before the pandemic, industry estimated it would cost $9.8 billion to upgrade collection and processing infrastructure.

    So the industry told leaders of the House, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, that it wanted to double the initial $500 million it sought last year in the Recover Act, to $1 billion.

    The group said that collecting all of the recyclable materials available in U.S. homes would generate 370,000 jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 20 million cars off U.S. roads.

    The Recycling Partnership, which also signed the letter, is seeing interest in recycling in discussions in Washington, possibly in the next round of legislation, the so-called fourth phase, said Elizabeth Biser, vice president of external affairs for the Falls Church, Va.-based group.

    "I know there's some renewed interest in this as conversations on infrastructure start to take off in the current crisis," she said. "With infrastructure being part of Phase 4, we're examining how recycling infrastructure could be a part of a federal stimulus package."

    She told an APR webinar on April 15 that her group is concerned that coming out of the coronavirus crisis, cash-strapped local governments will have less money to fund recycling collection.

    "We as a country are not making additional progress right now and quite frankly, we're at risk of backsliding as local government budgets are strained with tax revenues declining as a result of the crisis," Biser said.

    Biser said that many people in the U.S. do not have full access to recycling at their homes, even as recyclables could serve as raw materials for in-demand products and packaging.

    "Many of the products in short supply such as water bottles, toilet paper, and cardboard boxes use recycled materials," she said. "Businesses rely on curbside recycling as their largest source for recycled content."

    Beyond the crisis, she said the partnership wants to look broadly at changes to the U.S. recycling system, including disposal fees to offset local government costs and "eco-modulated packaging fees" to help fund infrastructure and education.

    Biser said a lot of the corporate commitments around using more recycled content "are coming due in 2025," even as recycling related legislation in Congress and state legislatures have been "put on the backburner" during the pandemic.

    "But from our perspective, this is not the time to press the pause button," she said. "When we come to the other side of this crisis, the goals will still have to be met."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    OSHA: Worker died at plastics firm after duct tape covered safety guards
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified