A combined $2.8 million grant from The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) with special support from beauty brand Love Beauty and Planet will more than double the frequency of recycling collection in Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, from once a month to every other week. 

The metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County (Metro Nashville) will use the multimillion-dollar grant to buy 16 collection vehicles and provide 8,000 additional recycling carts to households, allowing them to access curbside recycling services. The Recycling Partnership will also provide funding and expert technical assistance to Metro Nashville to implement a jurisdiction-wide education and outreach campaign to support its curbside recycling program. 

“We have a high quality of life here in Nashville, but it's my job to always work to improve it,” says Mayor David Briley. “By upping recycling collection and enhancing our education campaign around it, we can continue to make our city greener and more sustainable. I am grateful for these grants and our partners in this effort. I know it will go a long way towards making our city an even more beautiful place.”

According to a news release from The Recycling Partnership, the recycling improvement program will affect more than 139,000 Metro Nashville households and is expected to be fully implemented by early 2020. 

“This funding from the Partnership and TDEC enables us to positively impact a massive amount of Davidson County residents,” says Mark Sturtevant, Metro Nashville public works director. “We've been waiting a long time to go from monthly to every-other-week collection. Public works is thrilled to finally be able to improve our recycling program and collect more quality recyclables at the curb.”

“The grant to Metro Nashville is a powerful example of how partnership can drive real change,” says Rob Taylor, director of grants and community development at The Recycling Partnership. “TDEC’s support combined with donations from our funding partners, especially Love Beauty and Planet, make this work possible. Increasing collection frequency and growing access to recycling service while providing education to residents is a comprehensive model for recycling success.”

New York-based Closed Loop Partners, an investment organization for promoting the circular economy, has become the latest e-Stewards Enterprise partner, agreeing to make its best effort to use e-Stewards certified electronics recyclers in projects and programs. Closed Loop Partners is supported by many of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, including Amazon, Coca-Cola, Colgate Palmolive, Danone, Johnson & Johnson, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Nestlé Waters North America, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Unilever and 3M.  

"Closed Loop Partners is pleased to join forces with e-Stewards to maximize ethical recycling in the Information Age," says Ron Gonen, CEO and co-founder of Closed Loop Partners. "Together we aim to close the sad chapter of e-waste dumping and write the next chapter of re-use and innovation."

E-Stewards certified recyclers promote ethical and responsible waste management under the controls of the Basel Convention, which is designed to prevent the export and exploitation of peoples and the environment in developing countries from global waste flows.

"We are thrilled to partner with the shakers and movers of the circular economy," says Jim Puckett, founder and executive director of Basel Action Network (BAN), Seattle, the creator of e-Stewards. "Cycling and recycling is essential, but Closed Loop Partners understands that such cycling has to be done ethically and without harm to our natural capital or those in weaker economies."

One of Closed Loop Partners' portfolio companies, Curb My Clutter, an app-based home collection program for unwanted electronics, makes exclusive use of e-Stewards certified recyclers. Other partners in the e-Stewards Enterprise program making preferential use of e-Stewards include Samsung, Sony, Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, Alcoa, Boeing, LG, Bloomberg and Iron Mountain.

FCC Environmental Services, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Spanish company FCC, hosted the grand opening of is new material recycling facility (MRF) in Houston April 4. City council members and selected officials from the city of Houston, including Mayor Sylvester Turner and Vice Mayor Pro Temp Jerry Davis, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony and received a tour of the MRF.  FCC CEO Pablo Colio and FCC Environmental Services CEO Inigo Sanz welcomed the guests.  

FCC’s MRF will process and market recyclables collected throughout Houston for at least the next 15 years. The company says the MRF will process 65,000 tons in the next 12 months and has a total processing capacity of 145,000 tons annually.

The MRF includes an education center designed to assist the city of Houston in meeting its sustainability goals by training kids and adults on recycling best practices.

FCC Environmental Services offers waste collection, recycling and treatment of urban solid waste, industrial waste management and soil remediation, among other services.

The company says it has signed 10 contracts in Texas and three in Florida in the last few years, totaling more than $1.1 billion and is providing services for more than 8 million Americans.

According to a report by Acumen Research and Consulting, a global provider of market research studies with a U.S. office in Los Angeles, the international recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) industry is expected to exceed $12.5 billion by 2026 and the market is anticipated to display a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8 percent from 2018 through 2026. The report, “Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (rPET) Market – Global Industry Analysis, Market Size, Opportunities and Forecast, 2018 – 2026,” notes that the market is being driven by a growing beverage market in Asia Pacific countries, such as Vietnam, China, South Korea, India, Japan and Philippines.

Clear rPET is the largest product type in the worldwide rPET industry. It is anticipated to retain its position through 2026 because of the need for bottles and sheets with recycled content. It also is used in the production of fibers.

Growing need for rPET in the nonfood sector also is projected to advantage the development of the industry over the prediction period. Increasing sustainability concerns in North America and Europe are expected to intensify the need for rPET through 2026.

Demand for food and nonfood bottles across a number of end-use businesses and improving financial conditions are the main factors propelling demand for rPET in Latin America, according to the report. Growing per capita income and increasing fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market are helping the industry flourish in the region.

Fiber was the leading end-use segment in the worldwide recycled rPET industry. It is expected to account for 44.81 percent of the industry volume in 2019, the report states. Demand from the FMCG, automobiles, consumer goods, clothing and accessories, telecom, textile and home furnishing sectors is contributing to the development of the industry.

In the report, the global rPET market has been classified by product, end use and region. Based on product, the global market for rPET is segmented into clear and colored. Based on end use, the market is segregated into fiber, sheet and film, strapping, food and beverage containers and bottles, nonfood containers and bottles and others. Regionally, the report looks at North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific.

Asia Pacific (APAC) is expected to be a significant income contributor in 2019 and the largest regional industry through 2026, the report notes. APAC is characterized by its ability to access skilled labor at a low cost and easy accessibility of land.

Growing bottle-to-bottle production and a thriving beverage industry in APAC are projected to drive the rPET market through 2026.

The clear rPET segment leads the industry and its value is projected to show a CAGR of 7.2 percent through 2026, according to the report.

Companies featured in the report include Libolon, Placon, Phoenix Technologies, Clear Path Recycling LLC, Evergreen Plastics Inc., Verdeco Recycling Inc., PolyQuest, M&G Chemicals and Zhejiang Anshun Pettechs Fibre Co. Ltd.