The Washington-based Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) has developed and released a new, short-form video designed to illustrate its commitment to helping companies make products and packaging that are compatible with the current North American plastics recycling infrastructure. APR is using the Circular by Design trademark to brand the video.

APR says it “envisions a world with a circular economy for plastic goods; one in which companies manufacture recyclable products and consumers buy products made from recycled materials.”

It says its Circular by Design campaign, which includes the new video, has been created to inform consumer brand companies and other plastics recycling stakeholders of APR’s resources “to empower manufacturers and bolster the circular economy.” 

“For years, a top priority for APR has been expanding demand for recycled content,” says APR President and CEO Steve Alexander. “The good news is that, today, demand for recycled content is at an all-time high. APR is working to remind companies that we can help them meet their sustainability goals and design their products with circularity in mind.”

The association says its Design Guide for Plastics Recyclability also is helping packaging engineers “measure each feature of a package design against industry-accepted criteria to ensure that it is truly designed for recyclability.”

Adds Alexander, “In a truly circular economy, consumer product companies are their own material suppliers. Our hope is that this video spurs more product and packaging manufacturers to use the APR Design Guide and other resources to make today’s products with tomorrow in mind.”

APR refers to itself as an international trade association representing the plastics recycling industry, with members including independent recycling companies of all sizes that process numerous resins, as well as consumer product companies, equipment manufacturers, testing laboratories, organizations and “others committed to the success of plastics recycling.”

The video can be watched on this YouTube page.

The board of directors for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, voted in March to approve the addition of a new scrap paper grade—37-S Silicon Release Liner—to the association’s “Scrap Specifications Circular.” 

ISRI’s Paper Stock Industries (PSI) chapter proposed the addition of the recovered fiber grade earlier this year as a “Specialty Grade.” Such recovered fiber grades “are produced and traded in carload and truckload quantities throughout the United States and, because of certain characteristics (i.e., the presence of wet strength, polycoatings, plastic, foil, carbon paper, hot melt glue), are not included in the regular grades of paper stock.”

PSI says the original request to add the grade came from CELAB: Toward a Circular Economy for Labels, a coalition of companies in the self-adhesive label industry seeking to establish greater circularity for their products. CELAB submitted its request toward the end of 2021, and an ISRI working group reviewed the request, ultimately recommending the creation of specialty grade 37-S Silicon Release Liner. The ISRI Paper Division approved the working group’s recommendation in February, followed by a minimum 20-day public notice period. The ISRI board then approved the measure at its March 21 spring meeting in Las Vegas. Per ISRI specification approval procedures, a 30-day open comment period followed the board vote, PSI says.

PSI is not establishing specific specifications, which would refer to such factors as the type of wet strength agent used, the percentage of wax, the amount of polycoating, whether it is on top of or under the printing, etc. Rather, PSI says, the specification for each grade should be determined between Buyer and seller, and it is recommended that purchase be made based on a sample.

Additional information on the new specification is available by contacting Joe Pickard, ISRI’s chief economist and director of commodities, at jpickard@isri.org or Bret Biggers, ISRI’s senior economist, at bbiggers@isri.org.  

Lithium and cross-chemistry battery management and materials processor, Lancaster, Ohio-based Retriev Technologies and Detroit-based Battery Solutions, which Retriev acquired earlier this year, and Interaktif Cevre (a joint venture between The Heritage Group and Kibar Group), have announced their intention to develop a battery recycling site and a collection network in Turkey. Retriev says the initiative will support the growing needs for electric vehicle, or EV, recycling in Europe, Asia and the Middle East and help the manufacturing industry meet the requirements of the EU Battery Directive.

Retriev describes Turkey as an “emerging as a competitive hub for EV manufacturers,” adding that the need for lithium-ion battery recyclers is critical for manufacturers as they expand their global operations.  

With an emphasis on EVs, this new venture says it aims to provide industry-leading services to the large automotive industry in the region by building a network of best-in-class facilities to support the demand for responsible, scalable and efficient battery recycling and processing across the continent.

“Our strategy is to provide geographic diversification to support a responsible and sustainable battery life cycle where our customers are located and bring critical materials back into the battery supply chain,” says David Klanecky, CEO of Retriev Technologies & Battery Solutions. “The explosive demand for electric vehicles will test the limits of metals supply, and recycling will be the key component of sustained success in the category.”

Retriev Technologies & Battery Solutions’ experience and expertise in lithium-ion battery recycling is complemented by Interaktif Cevre’s service offerings, Retriev says in a news release about the partnership.

“This new initiative is a logical extension to leverage our existing Interaktif Cevre platform via well-established OEM partnerships, strong infrastructure and true expertise in waste services and recycling,” says Haluk Kayabasi, CEO, Kibar Holding, Istanbul. “The Heritage Group’s solid partnerships with the leading OEMs in North America in addition to Kibar and Interaktif’s effective coverage in Turkey will help us be the premier solution provider in the region for battery recycling management and materials processing. Collection and processing of any battery type will support Interaktif’s purpose of creating a sustainability platform that reuses and repurposes the earth’s scarce natural resources.”

Jeff Laborsky, CEO of Indianapolis-based Heritage Environmental Services and director of The Heritage Group, says, “Our expansion in the region demonstrates the commitment to Turkey since 2015 when our Interaktif joint venture was announced.”