Newsworthy

Recent news from the various sectors of the recycling industry from our June 2025 issue.

© Glynnis Jones | stock.adobe.com
Legislation & Regulations

Maryland governor signs packaging EPR bill

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has signed Senate Bill 901 (S.B. 901) into law, which will establish a statewide extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for packaging. Maryland now has become the sixth state in the U.S. to enact such packaging EPR legislation.

The law, which passed April 7 in the Maryland General Assembly, requires packaging producers to fund and manage the recycling system.

“We have a responsibility to hand over the state to the next generation better than we found it,” Moore says. “That’s not just a moral priority—that’s an economic imperative.” 

S.B. 901 incorporates best practices from the Boston-based Product Stewardship Institute’s (PSI’s) national packaging EPR model. Under the law, producers must join a producer responsibility organization (PRO) that will submit an implementation plan to a multistakeholder advisory council and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) for approval. The PRO will assess ecomodulated fees that producers will pay based on the sustainability of packaging materials—incentivizing reduction, reuse, recycling and composting.

The law establishes a phased cost responsibility: producers will cover 50 percent of program costs by July 1, 2028; 75 percent by 2029; and 90 percent by 2030. These funds will support recycling and composting infrastructure, education and outreach and local reuse initiatives, PSI says. Maryland’s law allows multiple PROs to operate from the outset—an approach that encourages competition.

“With the governor’s signature, Maryland has taken a bold step toward a cleaner, more sustainable future,” says Sen. Malcolm Augustine, the bill’s lead sponsor. “This new law holds producers accountable for the packaging waste they create and builds a modern, circular system that benefits every Marylander. I’m proud to have led this effort and deeply grateful to the Product Stewardship Institute, Trash Free Maryland [TFM], Maryland Recycling Network [MRN] and all of our legislative champions who made this victory possible.” 

“With this new law, Maryland is not just joining the national movement for extended producer responsibility—it’s helping to lead it,” says Scott Cassel, PSI founder and CEO. “By holding producers accountable for the packaging they put into the marketplace, this law will save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, drive down waste, strengthen local recycling programs and create green jobs across the state. It’s a smart, forward-thinking solution to one of our most pressing waste challenges.”

The bill’s passage follows an earlier attempt at establishing an EPR system in 2023, which resulted in a statewide recycling needs assessment. This assessment involved a waste characterization study and was released in February.

In addition to PSI, TFM and MRN, the Springfield, Massachusetts-based American Institute for Packaging and the Environment (Ameripen) also played a role in the development of S.B. 901.

“Ameripen has long championed packaging policies that are results- based, effective and fair,” Amperien Executive Director Lynn Dyer says. “Gov. Moore’s signature on S.B. 901 reflects years of diligent collaboration and smart policymaking. We are proud to have supported this process every step of the way and look forward to continuing our work to ensure Maryland realizes their goal of a best-in-class recovery and recycling system.”

Meanwhile, the Washington-based American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) expressed disappointment after the passage of S.B. 901.

“We are disappointed by Gov. Wes Moore’s decision to sign S.B. 901 into law and create an EPR program in Maryland,” AF&PA President and CEO Heidi Brock says in a statement. “As a result of S.B. 901’s rushed legislative consideration process, this new law has the potential to disrupt the state’s recycling systems and cause wide-ranging impacts to the paper industry.

“This costly approach to EPR ignores the complexities of the state’s recycling system and the paper industry’s significant recycling achievements. The legislation also imposes fees on paper products, like unprinted copy paper, which do not typically end up in recycling bins. As a member of the EPR Advisory Council, AF&PA looks forward to promoting practical, evidence-based implementation strategies to mitigate harm to Maryland’s recycling efforts.”



Photo by Casey Spring courtesy of Schupan and Sons Inc.
Electronics

Schupan Electronics Recycling JV formed

Schupan and Sons Inc., based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, says its Asset Management business unit will form a joint venture (JV) with Valley City Electronic Recycling (VCER) of Grand Rapids, Michigan, called Schupan Electronics Recycling. The JV expands the companies’ combined electronics recycling and information technology asset disposition (ITAD) capabilities.

Schupan Asset Management serves schools, banks, hospitals and other businesses. In addition to sanitizing and destroying data, the company operates a large shredder through which it processes devices that contain circuit boards to recover the precious metals they contain.

VCER provides domestic recycling and reuse services for electronics and medical and industrial equipment. The company provides ITAD services to recover value from customers’ unused assets, with nonworking and other unusable electronics being manually disassembled to achieve cleaner separation of materials and additional resource recovery value.

“By joining forces with Valley City, we are leveraging our combined expertise, expanding our geographic footprint and providing our clients with more comprehensive and efficient recycling solutions,” Schupan CEO Marc Schupan says.

“We are proud to partner with Schupan Asset Management in creation of our shared venture, Schupan Electronics Recycling,” says Jason Kehr, founder and president of VCER. “This collaboration will allow us to enhance the services we provide and deliver even greater value to our clients.”

The VCER team, including Kehr, will join the Schupan Asset Management team. A new facility in Wyoming, Michigan, will serve as a handling and staging location for materials to be transported to the JV’s R2v3-certified Kalamazoo operations for additional processing. The Wyoming location will offer a computer refurbishment and resale store that will be open to the public.

Schupan Electronics Recycling is committed to providing environmentally responsible and secure electronics recycling solutions. The joint venture says it will adhere to the highest industry standards, ensuring the proper handling and disposal of electronic devices.



Metals

Cleveland-Cliffs to idle steelmaking capacity in two states

Photo courtesy of Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-based mining and steelmaking company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has sent federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices connected to job layoffs at two steel plants in Pennsylvania and one in Illinois.

The several hundred layoffs and capacity reduction moves are taking place at an electric arc furnace (EAF) mill in Steelton, Pennsylvania, and at a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) mill complex in Riverdale, Illinois. Also affected is a downstream steel quenching and annealing complex in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

In Steelton, the firm operates a 300,000-ton-per-year EAF melt shop that produces steel railroad rails and two other end products. In Riverdale, the company’s two BOFs can produce 700,000 tons per year of steel, according to Cleveland-Cliffs.

The steelmaker reportedly says the sites will be idled indefinitely, citing muted demand.

“These temporary, indefinite idles are a necessary response to insufficient demand and pricing for the products the affected facilities produce, including rail, specialty plate and high-carbon sheet, all of which fall outside of Cliffs’ core business focus,” Cliffs says in a statement provided to the Associated Press. As of early May 5, a statement had not yet been posted to the company’s website, though Cliffs mentions the closures in its first-quarter earnings report.

The steelmaker reported a loss of $700 million in 2024, with its President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves citing a decline in domestic automotive production and too much imported steel from abroad as among the company’s challenges last year.



Photo courtesy of Mondi Group
Paper

Mondi starts up recycled containerboard mill in Italy

Global paper and packaging company Mondi officially started up its recycled containerboard mill in Duino, Italy, in early May after a nearly yearlong conversion project.

Mondi purchased the mill from Burgo Group in early 2023 for about $43.3 million with plans to convert the facility from producing lightweight coated mechanical paper to recycled containerboard. The project began in May 2024 and represents a $216 million investment for Mondi.

“Starting up this machine on time is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the dedication and expertise of our team,” Mondi Corrugated Packaging CEO Markus Gärtner says. “With Mondi Duino now part of our integrated value chain, we are excited to serve our customers with sustainable packaging solutions from our expanded network of six containerboard mills worldwide.”

Once fully ramped up, the mill is expected to produce 420,000 metric tons of recycled containerboard annually, increasing Mondi’s integration and, the company says, enhancing security of supply for its customers.

Throughout the ramp-up phase, Mondi says it is focused on maintaining consistent production of high-quality recycled containerboard made from 100 percent recovered paper. The company, which is based in Weybridge, England, notes that the recycled containerboard produced at the Duino mill is ideal for lightweight corrugated solutions and that the paper grades support cost-efficient, fully recyclable packaging solutions for applications such as e-commerce and consumer goods packaging.

The Duino investment is part of Mondi’s $1.3 billion in approved investments in organic growth projects aimed at meeting demand for sustainable packaging as well as enhancing its product line and reducing environmental impact.

“We are excited by this opportunity to invest in the growth of our packaging business, build on our integrated platform and broaden our geographic reach,” Mondi Group CEO Andrew King said in May 2024 when the project first was announced.

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June 2025
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