Glass
Glass prices have remained very flat this month despite ongoing challenges and warnings last month that they were likely to decrease. This can be attributed to the PRN having gone up.
There are also some predictions being made by our contacts that the glass price may start to increase towards the end of the year.
However, the UK glass industry continues to see cheap virgin cullet being imported from Europe, undercutting recycled glass prices.
Glass bottle remains very hard to shift across the UK during to an ongoing surplus.
View our more detailed glass price index here.
Metals
The metals market has remained subdued this month, with both steel and aluminium can prices slightly lowered.
Steel can values have continued to soften, driven by low volumes and a general sense of uncertainty across the sector. Poor demand persists, and with no rebound yet visible in the wider European market, prices remain soft and sentiment cautious.
Aluminium can prices have followed a similar path, with some grades edging down while others have held steady. Demand is largely flat, offering little in the way of upward momentum. Ferrous metals more broadly are tracking these same trends, with subdued activity.
View our more detailed metal price index here.
Organics
The organics market has been largely stable this month, with little change in overall pricing.
However, some pressure has emerged in the Anaerobic Digestion sector, where rebates have dropped and capacity has been reduced in certain areas.
Aside from this, the broader market has remained steady, with no significant shifts in demand or supply conditions reported.
View our more detailed organics price index here.
Plastics
The market for some plastics grades such as HDPE and LDPE has remained relatively stable this month with steady demand and prices, however this has not been the case for other grades such as PET, which has seen prices fall further in September.
This has been linked to an abundance of PET on the market following the summer and the market for processed PET being impacted by cheap imports from Asia – a situation exaccerbated by the indirect impact of Trump’s tariffs which are seeing material previously destined for the USA being diverted to Europe.
The issues in the PET market is starting to have a knock-on effect on mixed bottle prices, which have also been impacted by a shortage of sorting capacity following the closure of facilities such as Viridor’s Rochester plant.
Over the past week the plastics PRN has increased significantly from around £150/t to £200/tonne, offering valuable price support, however this has reportedly not yet filtered through to increased purchase prices for many grades.
Latest packaging data indicates that a record quarter of plastic packaging recycling will be required in Q4, and it is hoped that increased exports, backed by the higher plastics PRN, will help achieve this.
View our more detailed paper price index here.
Textiles
Despite challenging global conditions, the textiles sector has seen relative stability over a lot of the past year after significant softening in 2024. This stability looks to be ending with further decreases over the past two months.
Many of the African end markets for UK textiles are low in cash, with reports that ultra-fast fashion companies such as Shein are now targeting these markets directly and further undercutting the reuse sector.
Other impacting factors include poor quality material flooding the market in the UK, and high collection and shipping costs.
One market participant described the situation as “horrendous” and another warned that the true impact hasn’t been felt yet.
View our more detailed textiles price index here.
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