ISRI highlights plastic progress

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries has released its 2012 Scrap Yearbook, which provides a comprehensive overview of the scrap recycling industry in the U.S. with sections on specific commodities.

Citing numbers from the National Association for PET Container Resources, the Yearbook states that the gross recycling rate for PET container bottles grew from 22 percent in 2011 to 29 percent in 2011.

“While one can picture so much opportunity for growth in plastics recycling, many challenges exist, ranging from the false perception by many that recycled materials are somehow inferior to virgin materials to archaic laws and regulations that never contemplated the possibility of recycling plastics,” reads the yearbook. It also states that other challenges to increasing plastics recycling include a patchwork of state laws and a lack of direction from industry stakeholders.