The Woodlands, Texas-based AmSty and Tigard, Oregon-based Agilyx have formed a joint venture, Regenyx LLC, “dedicated to fully recycling postconsumer polystyrene materials back to new polystyrene products,” according to a news release.

Regenyx will use Agilyx’s chemical recycling process to convert used polystyrene (PS) products back to their original liquid styrene monomer. AmSty works with its supply chain partners to make new PS products with the styrene monomer “without any degradation of quality or value.” The companies call the circular recycling model the PolyUsable process.

“Today’s announcement marks a major milestone not only for AmSty and Agilyx, but for our collective ability to dramatically increase recycling rates,” remarks Agilyx CEO Joe Vaillancourt. “Our collaboration with AmSty brings together a complete system that will allow us to continually recycle polystyrene products back to polystyrene products. Agilyx has been driven for the last 15 years with a vision to end wasteful outcomes of postconsumer plastics, and we are very excited to be partnering with AmSty to help drive innovations that will give perpetual use to polystyrene.”  

Regenyx will assume the assets of Agilyx’s Tigard facility, which is currently scaled to process 10 tons of PS per day and already ships recycled styrene monomer to AmSty. In addition, AmSty and Agilyx will “work together to develop plans for a larger regional facility scaled to process 50 tons per day, currently envisioned for the West Coast.”

“We are excited to take this step forward with Agilyx toward a new future for plastics recycling,” AmSty President and CEO Brad Crocker states. “Polystyrene products like foam cups, foam packaging and single-use items are uniquely suitable for conversion back to chemical building blocks that can be used to make new products over and over. We are committed to a future where discarded polystyrene materials are no longer sent to landfills. This approach also holds great promise for other types of plastics as well.”

Mackinaw, Illinois-based USC Castings has reached what it calls a long-term supply agreement with Magotteaux for the supply of differentially heat-treated (DHT) shredder hammers and other wear parts.

As part of the agreement, Magotteaux says it has dedicated production capacity for the scrap industry wear parts to be poured in North America at foundries in Pulaski, Tennessee, and Monterrey, Mexico. The agreement allows USC to distribute the hammers and wear parts in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The City of Philadelphia has announced the signing of a new recycling contract with Waste Management Inc. (WM) that will result in 100 percent of the recyclables collected by the city being processed at WM’s material recovery facility (MRF).

Under the plan, the city will pay $90 to $100 per ton to process the collected recyclables under a best-value contract, with incentives for decreasing recycling contamination. The city is currently operating under an interim agreement that mimics the terms of the proposed contract.

“The Streets Department, along with representatives from Procurement and the Law Department, worked intently to deliver a contract that combined fiscal responsibility with incentives for cleaning up the recycling stream,” says Mayor Jim Kenney. “Ultimately, the best value has been negotiated on behalf of all taxpayers, getting us back on track with our goals for Zero Waste by 2035.”   

Prior to negotiations, the city had been processing half of collected recyclables at a MRF while sending the other half for recovery at a waste-to-energy facility.  The temporary process was in effect for nearly six months, following changes in the global recycling market that challenged the way municipalities around the world processed recycling.

“The shift in the recycling market coincided with the end of the city’s previous recycling contract,” says Michael Carroll, deputy managing director for the Office of Transportation Infrastructure Systems. “Recycling has been a volatile market over the years, at times generating revenue and at other times costing the city millions to process. To be sustainable, we all need to reduce what we consume to produce the most favorable situation.” 

The new contract will be supported with an educational campaign emphasizing the call for a reduction in contamination. Contamination rates were last calculated in 2017 at 19.2 percent for the City of Philadelphia and at 25 percent nationally. The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates 75 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW) to be recyclable, but about 34 percent gets recycled currently.

The McLean, Virginia-based Paper and Packaging Board (P+PB) says survey data collected for its 2018 Campaign Impact Report shows that 83 percent of consumers surveyed responded they view recycling paper of all kinds as still worthwhile. The P+PB says this viewpoint predominates despite “a constant stream of negative press questioning recycling’s effectiveness.”

The P+PB Impact Report also indicates the paper and packaging industry is viewed more favorably than other materials industries, including plastics, and 62 percent of those surveyed saying paper’s benefits outweigh the risks when considering paperboard packaging and the environment.

“What these numbers and the data in the full report suggests is that when consumers are aware of the benefits of choosing paper and paper packaging, these materials remain valued choices,” says Mary Anne Hansan, president of the Paper and Packaging Board.

The support for the benefits of recycling process comes at a time when the process in some cities has been disrupted by global trade issues and declining prices. Based on a separate survey about packaging, P+PB reports the following responses: 

• 68 percent of consumers said they were most likely to buy something in a paper or cardboard package if given the choice between paper or plastic;
• 71 percent of consumers said they were more likely to buy brands that package their products in paper or cardboard, than in other materials; and
• 63 percent of consumers said that paper and cardboard packaging makes a product seem premium or of high quality.

One factor contributing to preference for paper-based packaging is the design, says P+PB. Some 83 percent of respondents said paper and cardboard packaging can be innovative, and roughly 70 percent of them said this type of packaging allows for creative packaging designs and can seem more artisanal or hand-crafted.

The Paper and Packaging Board creates promotions designed to help slow the decline in paper use and expand demand for paper-based packaging products. More than 40 manufacturers and importers of these products collectively fund the board’s efforts.