by Robert Steuteville

About the author: Robert Steuteville is a senior editor for BioCycle, a monthly magazine covering recycling topics.

Postconsumer plastics recycling is still relatively new. There is a considerable amount of innovation taking place around the country with both processing and product development. Because markets are difficult to predict and impossible to control, plastics recyclers need to focus on manageable portions of the business or operation. These include efficiency, flexibility in feedstock and, in the case of a manufacturer, the competitiveness and quality of the final product. An example of innovation on the processing side can be found at Total Recycling in Boswell, Pennsylvania, a 200 ton/day materials recovery facility (MRF). Total Recycling is using optical technology to improve its manual sort of commingled plastics.

Mixed containers from curbside programs—which Total Recycling has been processing since the...