This month, many of us will once again order our coffees and teas hot instead of the refreshing iced versions we enjoyed during the summer. As we welcome fall and all of its flavors, polystyrene foam foodservice products will help millions of us keep our favorite pumpkin-spiced or salted caramel lattes, cappuccinos and herbal teas […]
Tag Archives: Recycling
New study outlines a more targeted offense to tackle ‘ocean plastic’
Strong, lightweight plastics are amazing materials that contribute to sustainability by helping to reduce energy use, waste and greenhouse gas emissions. But when plastics end up as ocean litter, their full sustainability benefits aren’t realized. No one wants to see trash of any kind in our environment. Plastics makers realize that ocean litter is a […]
Plastics-to-oil technologies could add $9 billion to U.S. economy, says new report
Isn’t it time we stop burying our non-recycled plastics? Our society is always looking for new, alternative energy sources. Energy is not only vital to most everything we do, it helps to create jobs and enables economic growth. On this blog, for example, we’ve discussed how recovering non-recycled plastics and turning them into energy has […]
FutureStructure Summit explores how leading states and municipalities are investing in energy recovery technologies
At the recent FutureStructure Summit in Boston, Massachusetts, state and local policymakers and key stakeholders discussed strategies for developing the necessary infrastructure for cities of the future. The discussions, sponsored by GOVERNING Magazine, focused on water, waste, and energy issues, including options to recover energy from a city’s non-recycled waste. One panel discussion, “Using Waste […]
At home and at the ball park, recycling is always a home run
At ACC, we encourage everyone to recycle their plastic bottles and containers whenever they can — at home, at the mall, even at the baseball stadium. It makes sense: many beverages sold at baseball games come in plastic bottles or are served in plastic cups, making the ballpark a great place for plastic recycling. Recently, […]
Plasticity 2014: New ways of thinking about old problems
Plasticity 2014 was an inspiring event. This annual discussion about the future of plastics brings together designers, brand owners, environmental groups, and public and private sector leaders to discuss design solutions, material innovations, plastic recycling, and waste reduction with the aim of encouraging further innovations and collaborations between stakeholders. Plastics have become the “go to” […]
New study highlights significant potential to recover energy from waste in the U.S.
Most people don’t give a second thought to where their trash goes once it’s hauled away, but thanks to exciting developments in technologies that recover energy from waste, it’s worth taking a closer look. Today, a growing number of technologies are able to turn non-recycled trash can into valuable products, including energy. To better understand […]
Important conversations about plastics are taking place
This week, world leaders came together to focus attention and encourage action on important issues involving our oceans, including unsustainable fishing practices, ocean acidification and marine debris. ACC’s CEO Cal Dooley was invited to speak about the plastics industry’s role in launching public-private partnerships and other cooperative action to prevent plastics from reaching our oceans. […]
New video highlights growing interest in technologies that transform waste into energy
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has released a new video that provides a quick overview and some compelling statistics about the benefits of recovering energy from waste. “Don’t Trash Our Energy” explains that energy recovery is happening right now in 86 facilities in 25 states across the U.S. and that emerging technologies in this area […]
Could waste-to-energy become our country’s cleanest source of electricity?
A former top science advisor thinks it can. For the last 28 years, a waste-to-energy facility in Alexandria, Virginia, has processed trash from the surrounding community. A few years ago, the U.S. Capitol began sending its waste –about 5,000 tons every year – to the same facility, Covanta Alexandria/Arlington, Inc., producing enough additional electricity to […]
