And, the data also puts the aluminium sector at ease after a difficult first half of the year when changes to protocols, and slow accreditation by energy from waste plants, caused concerns that aluminium might even miss its targets.
Problem
Plastics packaging recycling has now emerged as a problem area in the light of weaker demand from China for material and also because of the the failure of some plastics recycling businesses in the UK. A number of exporters of plastics for recycling overseas are also still to submit their data for quarter three so the figures could improve. Companies listed by the Agency as still to submit information on plastics exports for recycling include Leinster (Environmentals) UK, Ecogen Commodities, ST Greenday and RecyCo.
Should plastics continue to be behind in terms of performance in 2015, this is expected to mean that the value of the plastic PRN will continue to soar – recently it has reached £65+. At the very early stages of the PRN system the plastics PRN was more than £100 and some commentators consider it could well head this way. But questions will remain about the market demand for flake produced and whether the economics of the process fully stack up even with a higher PRN value.
A high PRN value for plastics is likely to be welcomed by some in the sector including waste management companies Veolia, Viridor and Biffa who have invested in plastics sorting facilities and have faced lower values for the product produced because of a weaker market. For Viridor it may also come as some comfort in the face of the weak glass PRN market and the volatility in it over recent years as the company has invested heavily in glass sorting.
Poker
Confirmation of the stress in the plastics sector came today with Recoup, the plastic bottle recycling association, hitting out strongly at the PRN system and comparing it to a game of poker.
However, there is little sign that the government will change the system despite the protestations of the plastics sector – behind the scenes many in the plastic sector are still thought to believe that plastics packaging would be better burnt but this view is unlikely to win the argument. And, the European Commission is expected in its Circular Economy proposal in December to push for more recycling of plastics.
Stuart Foster, chief executive of RECOUP remarked that “the unnecessary annual game of plastic PRN poker between the sellers and buyers will commence now Q3 2015 data has been published.”
The provisional data, said RECOUP, shows that 197,249 tonnes of plastics packaging were recycled in Q3 which equates to 61% or 120,664 tonnes being exported, while around 39% or 76,585 tonnes stayed in the UK for recycling.
Doubt
Mr Foster added: “As anticipated, the provisional Q3 data shows reported plastic packaging recycling tonnage was down when compared to the previous quarter. It will cast some doubt over the achievability of the 2015 target and almost certainly lead to speculation on further plastic PRN increases to the end of the year.
“The fact that significant PRN tonnage from 2014 was carried over to 2015 will provide a cushion, but it is almost certain that cushion will not be there for 2016 as plastic packaging recycling targets increase by another 5%. For the benefit of everyone, we need to see some changes to the way the current system works.”
Cheerful
In contrast, the aluminium packaging sector was in a cheerful mood, with Rick Hindley, executive director of the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), “very pleased”.
The third quarter of 2015 showed that reported aluminium packaging recycling recorded its highest ever quarterly performance at 23,330 tonnes. Alupro puts this down to the direct result of adjustments made to the accreditation process, following lower than expected tonnages in Q1 and Q2, and increasing volumes of aluminium packaging recovered from incinerator bottom ash (IBA) being reported through the system. An estimated 18,800 tonnes is required in the final quarter to achieve the 2015 recycling target.
Mr Hindley, said: “Alupro has consistently advocated streamlining the reprocessor/exporter accreditation process and these changes have had an immediate effect. With more reprocessors coming on stream we are increasingly confident that aluminium will not only achieve the 2015 recycling target, but also that in future the figures will be a more accurate picture of the amount of aluminium packaging recycled in the UK or exported for recycling.
“We are very pleased to see that new reprocessors are becoming accredited to the system and are grateful to Defra and the national environment agencies for working to bring about these changes.”
Mr Hindley added: “We knew that 2015 would be a period of adjustment following changes to the aluminium protocols which came into effect in January.”
PRN system
Phil Conran, chair of the Advisory Committee on Packaging, which gives advice to Defra on the PRN system, last week suggested that the higher PRN prices, earlier this year for aluminium and currently for plastics, could drive more material into the system (see letsrecycle.com story).
And speaking at the annual LARAC, local authority recycling officers conference, Mr Conran suggested that major changes to the PRN system are unlikely.
The ACP chair said: “The PRN is a market system and if somebody loses a proportion of that market PRN value, because somebody wants to take it for collection for example, it then makes the person receiving that PRN value less competitive than the person receiving the whole PRN value and therefore the conclusion of all this is that under the current system it is going to be very difficult to change the dynamics of that current flow.”
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