THEN
Readers of a 1988 edition of Recycling Today magazine (actually, "Today!" with an exclamation point at that time) encountered a blend of departments and features that is not far removed from what is encountered in 2008.
The December 1988 issue included an "Annual State of the Industry Report" as the cover story, with a review of a year that had started strong but was finishing with a sputter. (A milder version of 2008, apparently.)
The mix of markets covered by Recycling Today that year was similar but not identical to market segment coverage as it is presented in 2008.
Current readers would recognize separate departments on the ferrous and nonferrous markets, as well as on scrap paper markets.
Having faded from view, however, were separate news sections on precious metals and on textiles that were presented at that time.
Precious metals coverage, as presented in the December 1988 edition of Recycling Today, included news updates on gold mining output in South Africa and special silver and gold coins emanating from Australia and Canada. Additionally, summaries of two conflicting forecasts for the platinum market were included.
Recycling Today covered the textiles market in the December issue, with items on scrap textile export figures and pre-event coverage for an upcoming fabrics industry event.
Missing from coverage in 1988 was news on obsolete electronics, and barely registering with any coverage late that year was the plastics recycling sector.
A combined Plastics, Rubber, Glass department in the December 1988 issue contained nine news items. Three of the items were on glass, two focused on rubber and another item concerned consumer attitudes about recycled-content purchasing. The remaining three items in this department described niche plastics applications or technologies, such as biodegradable trash bags and food packaging and a breathable film for food packaging.
NOW
Readers of Recycling Today in 2008 continue to find news and market conditions in the metals and paper industries emphasized in the pages of the magazine.
Market reports for ferrous scrap, nonferrous scrap and recovered fiber run in the front of the magazine to provide sector reviews to traders of those materials.
Now joining those three sections (since 2006) is a report on the plastics recycling sector. During the past 20 years, plastics recycling has firmed up its presence, thanks to the municipal/post-consumer side of the industry collecting PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (high-density polyethylene) bottles and also because of a broader willingness of manufacturers to use regrind and secondary resins as feedstock.
The monthly report on plastics includes summaries of conversations with recyclers who are geographically dispersed and who are involved in both the post-consumer and the industrial side of the plastics recycling sector. A chart with index pricing for plastics materials and resins also helps readers track the value of plastic in the previous 13 months.
Starting in early 2004, Recycling Today also began offering a separate Electronics Recycling news department.
Electronics recycling continues to be reported prominently in Recycling Today, with such news items mixed into the "Newsworthy" section in the front of the magazine, appearing alongside items covering the scrap and municipal recycling industries.
As with the other recycling sectors, news items help readers keep tabs with a variety of aspects of electronic scrap news, including state law changes, new collection efforts being undertaken, new facilities opening and mergers and acquisitions within the growing sector. To some extent, this is also where news within the precious metals segment can be found.
Looking back at a span of two decades, the changes in coverage are perhaps subtle, but they do provide some insight into how markets have evolved in the past 20 years.
Explore the December 2008 Issue
Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
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