Lincoln, California-based Circular Polymers says it is ready to supply the chemical recycling industry with consistent, high-quality feedstock made from postconsumer carpet and other forms of plastic scrap. Circular Polymers’ new facility in Lincoln, near Sacramento, can process some 15,000 tons of carpet per year, with the capability to expand further, says the company.

Circular Polymers is using carpet recycling technology developed by Elyria, Ohio-based Broadview Group International (BGI). Says BGI President Joe Bork, “Our technology disassembles the carpet [and] then cleans the fibers, thus maximizing yield while providing superior quality. The technology processes all carpet types: nylon 6, nylon 66, PET [polyethylene terephthalate] and polypropylene.”

Comments David Bender, CEO of Circular Polymers, “Chemical recycling is the solution to global demand for recycled feedstocks in a circular economy. Major brand companies working with chemical recyclers need clean, sustainable supplies of feedstock. We understand that chemical recycling operations require the conversion of waste into a raw material with strictly defined specifications. Circular Polymers is uniquely positioned to supply this growing industry.”

Adds Bender, “With more than 25 percent of all recycled bottles getting downcycled into carpet and fiber, Circular Polymers has created a figure eight in the circular economy, enabling upcycling of carpet into bottles.”

Circular Polymers and BGI completed the Lincoln plant expansion in December 2018. “Circular Polymers expects to grow significantly to support our customer requirements,” says Nick Fiore, president of Circular Polymers. “The chemical recycling industry is in its infancy. Four billion pounds (2 million tons) of carpet landfilled annually provides the feedstock for growth.”

Chicago-based PureCycle Technologies, described as an offtake partner of Circular Polymers, is commercializing a process designed to convert plastic scrap into virgin-quality resin. David Brenner, PureCycle’s chief integration officer, comments, “What we need to make the circular economy a reality is innovators at all levels of the supply chain. What Circular Polymers has done with processing post-consumer carpet back into raw materials for chemical recyclers is not only revolutionary, but an incredible model for us all, considering the large volumes of feedstock that are being landfilled today.”

“In addition to providing feedstock for chemical recycling, Circular Polymers’ fiber can also be further mechanically processed as a feedstock pellet for automotive, injection molding and other upcycled applications,” says Mark Babich, a relationship partner for Circular Polymers.

Circular Polymers received a grant from the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) in December 2018 to add new BGI equipment to remove and separate the polypropylene backing from carpet face fibers. Bob Peoples, executive director of CARE, says, “Circular Polymers is now the leading innovator of carpet recycling technology and our fastest growing recycler. I am very proud of what this talented team has been able to accomplish. They are proving a circular economy is achievable.”

Finland-based material handling machine maker Mantsinen Group Ltd. Oy says it is “swimming against the current” of increasingly larger machines with the launch of its medium-sized Mantsinen 60 model.

Two years after introducing its Mantsinen 300 model, the company’s largest, the Finnish firm says the Mantsinen 60 will “forge ahead by setting a new life expectancy for material handling machines in the 60-to-70 tons category.”

“We have an outstanding offering for large capacity machines, and now we are aiming to offer our clients something more targeted and tailored, especially for round-wood and scrap handling,” states Tapio Pirinen, a vice president with Mantsinen Material Handling Machinery, which has several North American sales offices and dealers.

The company says a key factor in the Mantsinen 60’s design is a combination of optimal features for the task at hand and the long lifetime expectancy of the machine. The model is equipped with the Mantsinen Telematics Systems (MTS) as standard, and “is optimized for mid-scale material handling,” says Pirinen.

A report from a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization called Consumer Watchdog alleges more than 50 percent ($732 million) of the $1.5 billion in deposits consumers in California pay under its beverage container recycling system is not collected.

The group’s report says several factors lead to deposit fees not being returned, including a lack of access to recycling centers, grocery stores that refuse to take empties and state payments and policies that benefit trash haulers, beverage distributors and grocery stores more than the public.

Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, says, “California’s bottle deposit law is broken, and both consumers and the environment are paying a big price. Gov. [Gavin] Newsom needs to make a priority of putting the pieces of California’s broken bottle deposit law back together to stop this half-billion-dollar-per-year consumer ripoff and to combat climate change, which is one of his top priorities.”

The report, titled “Half a Nickel,” recommends Newsom establish a 90 percent redemption target require mandatory returns at all big grocery stores and align payments and incentives to the new redemption goal. It also urges the state to consider raising the deposit amount, which has helped achieve a 90 percent redemption rate in Michigan and Oregon, according to Consumer Watchdog.

“Everyone’s getting rich off consumers’ deposits — curbside trash haulers, retailers and beverage distributors that scam the system — but we are losing out on big money each year,” says Liza Tucker of Consumer Watchdog. “Many of the problems documented trace back to [former Governor Jerry] Brown-era policies that the new governor can change.”

The report points to recycling center closings that it says have left consumers with so few places to redeem their empty bottles and cans that the 10 worst-served counties in the state average only one redemption center for every 60,000 people.

“Grocers and box stores have put up ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs,” says Tucker. “Currently, retail chains, including some of the biggest – Walmart/Sam’s Club, Albertson’s/Safeway and Vons/Pavilions – are failing to serve 64 percent of convenience zones.”

She continues, “The beverage industry routinely scams the bottle recycling program by undercounting, miscoding and failing to report sales. In 2016, CalRecycle [California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery] found that Walmart had failed to include the sales of 89 deposit-eligible products in its report deposit totals. That meant that $6.8 million worth of deposits were underreported.”

Portioned coffee maker Nespresso, the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR) have announced that Nespresso has made a $1.2 million commitment designed to better enable the recovery of its aluminum coffee capsules through New York City's curbside recycling program.

The funding also is being targeted to allow SMR to better sort and capture lightweight aluminum, including foil and other mixed metals, according to the three organizations.

“Sims Municipal Recycling’s role is to take the household recyclables that DSNY collects from New Yorkers and convert them into commodities or raw materials for manufacturers,” says Thomas Outerbridge, general manager of SMR. “Nespresso has been extremely proactive in working with us to find an effective solution that is convenient for customers and that will allow us to direct the aluminum into productive reuse.”

The DSNY says a key component of the partnership will be to encourage New York City residents to recycle Nespresso capsules as well as some 43,000 tons of aluminum foil and other mixed metals that currently end up in landfills each year.

Steven Costas, acting commissioner at DSNY, comments, “New York City works to have as inclusive a recycling program as possible, and the New York City Department of Sanitation supports industry efforts to maximize recovery of recyclable items. We want to recycle all of your aluminum items, not just soda cans.”

Guillaume Le Cunff, president and CEO of Nespresso USA, says, “Nespresso is deeply committed to the circular use of our products, choosing aluminum packaging because it both protects the quality of our exceptional coffees and can be recycled and reused again and again. This collaboration will provide New York City-based consumers with another convenient way to recycle used capsules and other aluminum products at home, allowing these items to be given many new lives.”

The funding from Nespresso will help SMR investing in additional technology required to improve the efficiency of its non-magnetic household metals recycling process, according to the companies. The equipment will be operational starting fall 2019, and residents in all five boroughs of New York City will be encouraged to recycle their Nespresso capsules as part of their regular recycling routine.

Le Cunff adds, “This is an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can collaborate to develop solutions that have broad environmental impact and create shared value. New Yorkers are familiar with recycling aluminum cans, and we want to encourage people to also recycle a wider array of aluminum products that they use on a regular basis.”

A Nespresso recycling program with UPS will continue to be available in the United States, says the firm. Consumers can bring recycling bags to one of 88,000 UPS drop-off locations or 500 collection points at Nespresso Boutiques.

Once those capsules are collected, they are sent to recycling firms that separate the aluminum from the coffee grounds. The coffee grounds can be turned into compost and topsoil while the aluminum is processed and recycled.