Thanks to those members who have advised us that our April and November meetings overlap with ASTM committee weeks. This is a concern because three of ASTM's plastics subcommittees are working on standards that could potentially affect NAPCOR members, some of whose representatives will want to weigh in at ASTM. We won't be able to change our April dates, but we're looking into moving November's meeting back to our usual Wednesday and Thursday. We'll keep you posted.

There's no indication that the debate about Extended Producer Responsibility will be resolved any time soon. Given an undercapitalized and underperforming recovery system in the U.S., how do we keep valuable materials in the packaging industry supply chain and out of the landfill? In a recent issue of Environmental Leader, Tetra Pak's Elisabeth Comere talks about something she calls Voluntary Producer Responsibility Plus. In her view, it's the best alternative for immediate implementation and for laying a foundation that will control industry costs in the event EPR is adopted.

 

It is shaping up to be a busy time for beverage container recycling policy. Here are some recent highlights.

 

Vermont enacted a Universal Recycling Law in May 2012. Among its provisions is one directing the Agency of Natural Resources to study the costs and benefits of expanding the beverage container redemption system. The cost-benefit analysis will compare both the existing deposit system and an expanded version to implementation of statewide single-stream collection. The agency is to advise the legislature on three alternatives: expanding the bottle bill, repealing it or leaving the program unchanged. A draft should be available for public comment in late February, with a final report expected sometime in March.

 

Legislators in Maryland, working with the newly launched Recycle For Real campaign, have announced their intention to introduce a beverage container deposit bill this session. The campaign includes industry players Owens-Illinois and Alcoa, as well as environmental advocates. Introduction of the bill is expected by the end of January.

 

The Rhode Island Senate Commission to Study Producer Responsibility Models for Paper and Packaging is hard at work. Documents from hearings in November and December are posted on the state assembly website.

 

The effort to expand the Iowa bottle bill appears to be underway, as reported by Resource Recycling. The effort is supported by a report from Iowa State University on the economics of the bottle bill.

 

To be notified when bills of interest are introduced, or otherwise follow developments in any of these states, contact NAPCOR Director of Public Policy Resa Dimino.

 

 

 

For over a decade, NAPCOR has performed bale composition analyses to quantify the constituent materials of PET bottle bales. The field work for the 2012 bale study was done at Mohawk Industries in Summerville, Georgia. Moore Recycling Associates conducted the sort with NAPCOR oversight, and Mohawk provided additional help on the sorting line. The American Beverage Association and the International Bottled Water Association funded the study.

 

You can read the full 2012 report here; log in to the NAPCOR Members Only page to access past reports (look for Archives > Reports/Documents).

 

Highlights from the 2012 analysis include:

• Bale composition generally consistent with 2011 results
• Proportion of water bottles (by weight) decreased slightly
• Lightweighting continued, but at a slower pace
• At 3% in the sorted bales, the incidence of full-wrap shrink labels was unchanged from 2011
• The non-usable portion (thermoforms, trash, metals, cardboard) of the bales averaged 10%. In curbside bales, it averaged 15%, with a high of 28% -- up slightly from 2011
• PET thermoforms made up more than 5% of curbside bales, an increase over 2011

If you have questions, contact NAPCOR Manager of Data and Industry Statistics Sarah Stewart.

 

 

 

What's in it for NAPCOR? During our service trial, we found this a more useful and powerful tool than our current service. Relevant news can be pushed out to NAPCOR staff and leadership, and shared with the full member base.

 

And for Industry Intel? Once each quarter, NAPCOR will inform members of Industry Intel events and news. The information will be included in this newsletter and never as a separate email communication to you, and NAPCOR will manage and control all communications.

 

Industry Intel's website is www.industryintel.com.

 

Best regards,

 

NAPCOR Communications Director

keagles[at]napcor[dot]com