Glass
It has odd month for the glass sector, with the pause in the PRN and PERN market causing trade to basically stagnate.
The PRN/PERN market resumed at the start of week and demand has started to increase as a result.
Glass prices saw a minor decrease across most categories, but it should be noted that not much volume has been moved.
View our more detailed glass price index here.
Metals
The metals market has shown a generally firm performance in February. Non-ferrous metals have largely continued on an upward trajectory, with strong movements in the precious metals segment. Recent spikes in precious metal values have provided additional support to the wider market.
Ferrous metals were expected to come under downward pressure due to rising sea freight costs, however prices have largely held stable over the month.
Aluminium and steel can prices have also slightly increased. However, it has been reported that buying interest has softened slightly compared to the stronger levels seen last year.
View our more detailed metal price index here.
Organics
The organics market has remained relatively steady this month, with anaerobic digestion pricing shifting marginally further into gate fee territory as operators report being able to be more selective with the quality of what they take in.
Local authorities continue to prepare for the rollout of mandatory household food waste collections in England. However, a recent report by BBC has indicated that around a quarter of councils are not expected to commence collections by the end of March as originally planned.
View our more detailed organics price index here.
Plastics
Plastics prices have remained fairly stable this month with no significant changes from January, except a small uplift in the price paid for HDPE and a slight fall in the prices paid for mixed bottles. Those in the sector say that offtake is consistent and material is moving, despite the disruption caused by the recent PRN trading situation. However, trading conditions remain challenging and there remains a lot of uncertainty in the market. It is hoped that demand for grades such as PET will pick up as is usual as we move into the warmer months.
View our more detailed paper price index here.
Textiles
Textiles prices have continued to decrease this month, with the only the textiles banks for charity and bring sites holding over from last month.
The Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) announced earlier in the month that it would further reduce its HWRC clothing collection bank network around the UK. This has caused more material to flood market and prices to significantly decrease.
While the price of textiles banks HWRC has dramatically fallen over the last few months – and now sits firmly as a gate fee – it seems as if we are starting to see this drop off flatten.
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.
View our more detailed wood price index here.
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