industry groups

At the closing general session of the 2014 ISRI Convention & Exposition, presumptive presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke to over 1,000 attendees about recycling and how the industry fits into the larger U.S. and global economy, but not without some controversy.

Just as Clinton began speaking, a member of the audience threw a strapped shoe and some papers at the former Secretary of State. Clinton responded with humor, saying, "My goodness, I didn’t know that solid waste management was so controversial.

The leader of a key House environmental subcommittee said a much-discussed federal bill limiting e-scrap exports will not be taken up in the current Congress.

In a meeting with the Institute of the Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Rep.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has formed a group to promote plastics-to-oil technology, which a number of firms have been exploring to monetize material, including e-plastics, that would otherwise be sent to landfills. Housed inside ACC's Plastics Division, the Plastics-to-Oil Technologies Alliance will work to support public policy and awareness efforts within the plastics-to-oil landscape.

A relatively new organization calling itself the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling is urging Congress to pass the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act – and is specifically calling for restrictions on the export of electronic scrap to developing countries.

The CAER includes a growing roster of 29 U.S. electronics recycling firms, which operate 74 recycling facilities in 34 states, and includes a range of firms including refurbishers, scrap processors and refiners.

A handful of Congress members are taking another stab at better controlling the stream of e-scrap being exported out of the U.S. to developing countries. The measure has the support of some large electronic manufacturers and environmental groups, but one recycling trade organization remains skeptical.

Democratic U.S.