The world is in a battle against plastic waste. Alongside reduction and reuse, recycling is a vital strategy for winning that battle. Every year, recycling keeps billions of pounds of plastic out of oceans and landfills. On Earth Day, we remember that when we recycle more, we can all use less - less of the Earth's finite resources and less energy t...

The global treaty recognizes the importance of plastics recycling as an essential solution to reduce plastic pollution, but more work is needed to invest in and incentivize the business of recycling so recyclers can outcompete virgin plastic in the marketplace. In a few short weeks, nearly 170 countries and thousands of stakeholders will gather in ...

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) and the U.S. Plastics Pact issued the following statement in response to the Center for Climate Integrity's recent report on plastics recycling: "APR and the U.S. Plastics Pact know that recycling works. Recyclers take in post-consumer plastic packaging from every community recycling program across the cou...

A great new blog post published this week by Dr. Kate Beers, a polymer scientist who leads work on the circular economy for the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), says "Plastics and polymers are an essential part of life, but we can be more thoughtful about how much of them we use and discard." Live...

APR is pleased to announce that three of our top leaders have received an important industry recognition. Steve Alexander, APR President & CEO; Kate Bailey, APR Chief Policy Officer; and Curt Cozart, APR Chief Operating Officer, were included on Plastics News' inaugural list of Notable Leaders in Sustainability. Plastics News recognizes Steve, ...

New polypropylene (PP) packaging components now eligible for recognition  The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) recently announced six new packaging components eligible for the Preferred Design Recognition (PDR) Program, formerly known as Meets Preferred Guidance (MPG). This program provides third-party validation that products are compat...

Host and APR's VP of Communications and Public Affairs, Kara Pochiro, is joined by Bruce Magnani, APR's Legislative Advocate in California, and VP of Houston Magnani Associates. Kara and Bruce start by breaking down the basics of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and California's SB 54 that focuses on packaging. The two discuss the EPR wave th...

Today, November 15th, the Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR) is excited to mark the 26th annual America Recycles Day, the only nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States. This day is especially important to APR as a U.S.- based, international non-profit and the only North American organizati...

Updates Reflect Current Market Trading Practices for PP and Mixed Rigid Plastics (November 14, 2023, Washington, D.C.) - The ISRI, "Voice of the Recycled Materials Industry™, and The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) have announced the latest update to the ISRI Specifications and APR Model Bale Specifications to include updated recycled p...

Plastic pollution continued to be top of mind for policymakers across the US and around the world in 2023. This webinar will cover the latest in state, federal, and global policy initiatives, including the United Nations negotiations to end plastic pollution, US federal legislation and federal agency initiatives to improve recycling and reduce plas...

"Because the recycling process is very similar in both geographies, packaging will likely be processed similarly," said Curt Cozart, APR COO. "Although some differences exist, APR Design® Guidance is nearly the same as RecyClass. The APR® Design Guide previously allowed for 5% EVOH in HDPE containers but will update to 6% to align with RecyClass De...

Host and APR's VP of Communications and Public Affairs, Kara Pochiro, is joined by Dale Gubbels, the 2023 Advocacy Champion Award recipient and CEO of Firstar Fiber. Dale and Kara break down Dale's early days of recycling and how Firstar Fiber has evolved into one of the largest materials recycling facilities (MRFs) in the Midwest. They decode Firs...

On this week's episode, APR's VP of Communications and Public Affairs, Kara Pochiro, is joined by Curt Cozart, Chief Operating Officer of APR and lead of the APR Design® Guide Training Program and other technical projects. Kara and Curt continue the conversation on package design from the last episode, diving into the world of PET, a plastic often ...

This summer, APR's Chief Policy Officer Kate Bailey represented APR at the Second Session of the UN Environment Programme Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-2) in Paris, France. The week-long event was the second of five planned sessions in the UN process to reach a final agreement in late 2024. APR participated as an...

Paris — Recycling companies came to the plastics treaty talks looking for policy changes to bring investment and press their point that they see recycling working, despite its challenges. For the U.S.-based Association of Plastic Recyclers, that includes wanting the treaty to include robust extended producer responsibility rules to collect more pla...

Register Now What Happens at an APR Member Meeting? General Sessions occur at the beginning and end of the meetings. APR's President offers a "State of the APR" address and other presentations address topics of broad industry appeal. Committee Meetings mostly happen on the middle day. All attendees may participate in any committee meetings they cho...

APR is pleased to be participating in the Second Session of the UN Environment Programme Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-2) on May 29 - June 2, 2023 in Paris, France as an accredited organization. INC-2 is intended to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine ...

State attorneys general and the Environmental Protection Agency are pressing the Federal Trade Commission to regulate plastics environmental claims more tightly, calling some uses of the resin code with chasing arrows "problematic" and requiring more proof of the green bona fides of chemical recycling.Plastics recycling companies are looking at upd...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requested comments on its revisions to the Green Guides and got 850 responses, with many calling for a crackdown on deceptive claims and better definitions of key terms. FTC is looking to update those guides and asked for public and stakeholder comments by April 24. Several large organizations submitted comments, ...

The recycling supply chain may be complex but the mission is simple - conserve the Earth's resources and reduce waste. With APR programs and guidance, companies can make recyclable products, collect and process those products, and make new products from recycled materials. by Steve Alexander On Earth Day, just like every day, APR is the "Voice of P...