Washington, D.C. —The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) has released a new video as part of the Recycling is Real advocacy campaign, highlighting the recycling efforts carried out at NPE2024: The Plastics Show. The video features NPE’s recycling partners, Conair Group, Commercial Plastics Recycling, Inc., and WEIMA.
NPE2024 achieved its goal of repurposing 100% of the plastics it collected at the show. Additional NPE key recycling data includes:
“Plastic recycling is very real, and NPE2024 attendees were able to see recycling taking place every day at NPE2024,” said PLASTICS’ President and CEO Matt Seaholm. “The collaboration with our recycling partners, WEIMA, Conair, and CPR demonstrates our industry’s commitment to sustainability and innovation. Through our efforts to ensure NPE2024 was a circular event, we’ve proven that plastics recycling is not only achievable but feasible and economical.”
“Plastic recycling is CPR’s commitment to our future generations,” said CPR, Inc.’s Plant Manager, Jeff Barksdale. “We were proud to be a part of NPE2024 and to show that recycling is real!”
“WEIMA knows that Recycling is Real — we do it every day,” said WEIMA’s CEO Madison Burt. “Putting that on full display at NPE2024, just like we have in years past, was a huge priority for our company. We took an all-hands-on-deck approach to making the Recycling Zone a fully immersive, museum-like experience for show-goers. Truly being able to see the recycling process in action proves that it’s not hypothetical– it’s a reality, and it happens every day all across the country.”
“At Conair, recycling is real, and every Conair product is engineered to help plastics processors Make Every Pellet Count – more than once. Our shredding, granulation, material handling, drying, and blending products have helped processors to recycle in-house and post-consumer scrap for more than 50 years,” said Conair President Jason Ganim.
Click here to view Recycling is Real featuring NPE2024
PLASTICS’ Recycling is Real campaign has highlighted mechanical and advanced recycling facilities throughout the United States. Employees in each video who represent the recycling industry and the work that they do are featured at locations including Atlanta, GA; Madison, WI; North Vernon, IN; Baton Rouge, LA; Portland, PA; Eagle Rock, VA; Rialto, CA; Wytheville, VA; Piqua, OH; Reidsville, NC; Tampa, FL; and Farmingdale, NY.
The Recycling is Real campaign provides content to help elected officials and policymakers understand that recycling is a vital link of the sustainability and circularity chain, enabling them to make more well-informed decisions about recycling resources for their constituents.
The Recycling is Real campaign was also created in an effort to put an end to false narratives suggesting recycling is not actually happening or claiming that recycling is a “myth.” Recycling has come under attack from those who wish to reduce or eliminate the production of plastic altogether. Recycling is Real shows how recycling happens, where it happens and introduces the people who make it happen.
For more than 40 years, WEIMA has been a world leader in size reduction technology for the plastics industry. WEIMA offers a comprehensive range of plastic shredders and granulators that can process plastic scrap of various types and dimensions. With a wide range of equipment and custom machinery, WEIMA can help increase an operation’s ROI while decreasing its environmental footprint.
The Conair Group is a world-leading supplier of plastics auxiliary equipment and systems. Our equipment line includes more than 450 innovative auxiliary products for plastics molders and extruders around the world. Our product range features resin drying systems, blenders, feeders and material-conveying systems, temperature-control equipment, and granulation and recycling products. Extrusion solutions include line-control systems, film and sheet scrap-reclaim systems, and downstream equipment for pipe and profile extrusion. Conair also combines specialized expertise in every major end market – such as automotive, packaging, medical, transportation, building and construction, and many others – with the technical and engineering resources needed to deliver sustainable, fully-integrated system solutions that meet processing challenges worldwide.
Commercial Plastics Recycling, Inc. (CPR, Inc.)—based in Tampa, FL—is an ISO 9001-certified recycler of post-industrial and select post-consumer plastics as well as a distributor of virgin and wide-spec PET resin and fiber. Since our inception in 1996, we have dedicated ourselves to helping businesses optimize their raw material use and recycling processes. Our expertise spans plastic materials, material handling equipment, and both domestic and international material sourcing, all supported by our superior customer service. As a family-owned and operated company, we proudly celebrated 28 years of industry excellence in July 2024.
The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) is the only organization that supports the entire plastics supply chain, including Equipment Suppliers, Material Suppliers, Processors, and Recyclers, representing over one million workers in our $519 billion U.S. industry. PLASTICS advances the priorities of our members who are dedicated to investing in technologies that improve capabilities and advances in recycling and sustainability and providing essential products that allow for the protection and safety of our lives. Since 1937, PLASTICS has been working to make its members, and the eighth largest U.S. manufacturing industry, more globally competitive while supporting circularity through educational initiatives, industry-leading insights and events, convening opportunities and policy advocacy, including the largest plastics trade show in the Americas, NPE: The Plastics Show.
