Glass
Generation has been surprisingly low this month compared to previous Decembers. One contact told us that they usually see orders double or even triple at this time of year, but that – even though orders have gone up – they have not yet doubled.
The low generation rates can likely be attributed to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Like other sectors, glass is concerned by knock-on effects of the delays to accreditation from the Environment Agency.
The PRN has seen an uplifted which has resulted in the overall glass price also increasing.
However, the wider picture continues to be problematic, with UK legislation such as Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) and the forthcoming deposit return scheme (DRS) continuing to have an effect on prices.
The UK also continues to see the import of cheap virgin cullet cause low demand for recycled glass.
Encirc has also confirmed an organisational restructuring process which has concerned glass reprocessors.
However, green bottles have seen a marginal price increase as less virgin green cullet is being imported from Europe.
Against the above context, glass prices – particularly mixed botte – have seen an increase over this month.
View our more detailed glass price index here.
Metals
The metals market has seen little movement throughout December, with overall pricing remaining largely flat across most grades. Activity has been relatively subdued, which is typical for this time of year.
Deep sea export prices have eased slightly, reflecting softer international demand and logistical pressures; however, this has not had a significant impact on the domestic market. Some small increases have been observed across various grades, helping to offset these reductions and keeping the overall market stable.
Aluminium, in particular, continues to show modest growth following the dip experienced over the summer months, and most non-ferrous grades peak with the highest prices of the year.
View our more detailed metal price index here.
Organics
The organics market in December has remained largely stable, with no significant movement in pricing reported across the month.
However, there has been a notable change in commercial terms, with rebates for anaerobic digestion now no longer being offered.
View our more detailed organics price index here.
Paper
Most of the paper grades have stayed relatively stable this month with only minor price movements.
Generation is down across the sector, particularly for this time of year which would generally see an uplift following Black Friday sales and ahead of Christmas.
Some have said that India has come back into the market, with indications that they may pursue more UK paper in January. This can partly be attributed to the US mills raising their prices once more.
There continues to be low demand from Europe for UK paper as mills face seasonal downtime.
Like other sectors, the paper sector is concerned by knock-on effects of the delays to accreditation from the Environment Agency – particularly for its effects on the export of OCC.
Domestically, there continues to be an oversupply of SOW which has kept the price flat compared to other paper grades. This situation is likely to continue. Conversely, there is a lack of availability of over-issue news.
Looking ahead to January, the Essity mill is scheduled to come online early on in the month which may see some of the issues of oversupply mellowed.
The industry has predicted that prices will likely start to increase in the first month of 2026 and stabilise in February.
View our more detailed paper price index here.
NB: Please note that from January 2026 Letsrecycle will be introducing a 1.04 grade between Mixed Paper (1.03) and OCC (1.05). This is to better separate out the OCC category.
Plastics
There has been further downward pressure on plastic prices this month and in particular prices for PET which have continued to fall, which some have attributed to the low price of virgin material and cheap imports from the Far East.
Due to the Christmas and New Year period, may plastics producers are also shutting down for two weeks which has also reduced demand for material.
The value of the plastics PRN has been quite changeable this month, also making pricing challenging. Prices for HDPE natural and mixed bottles have meanwhile remained relatively stable.
View our more detailed paper price index here.
Textiles
Despite years of warnings, the outlook for the textiles sector has never looked worse than it does at the moment.
This month, the Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) announced that it will pause collections from Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) on Monday (22 December 2025).
This pause – which comes at the busiest time of the year for the sector – was attributed to the increasing volume of clothing. The company confirmed it will conduct “a full review” of its future position in February.
At the same time, some textiles merchants have implemented gate fees for the collection of textiles, which have been reflected in the Letsrecycle textiles prices for the first time.
Others in the industry have suggested that they are considering following suit.
View our more detailed textiles price index here.
Wood
There are still major issues in the wood sector due to stock and oversupply. A lot of plants are offline in the northwest and Scotland which is applying further pressure.
Most gate fees are currently very high, but most sites simply do not have space to take on further material. However, very few wood recyclers are operating on a spot-price basis and are only fulfilling their contractual obligations.
The southeast is in a slightly better situation as the Tilbury Green Power site is now online, but gate fees also remain relatively high here.
Some in the sector have said they are looking for options to export wood to Europe, but this is largely not in play yet.
The industry had previously thought that the situation might improve around October due to seasonal demand increases, due to an unexpected amount of downtime across the country. It is now looking likely that gate fees will remain high for the foreseeable future.
View our more detailed wood price index here.
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