Glass
In terms of tonnages, the glass sector saw a reasonable Christmas, but trading has been slow.
The pause in the issuing of PRNs has caused huge knock-on effects, with businesses either moving stock at their own risk or choosing not to trade at all.
Prices have largely carried over from December to January, with most grades reasonably stable.
View our more detailed glass price index here.
Metals
The metals market has remained largely stable in January, with conditions broadly similar to those seen at the end of 2025.
Prices for most grades have held steady, with copper and brass continuing their upward trend.
However, the metals sector continues to face a more challenging backdrop, with a longer-term deterioration seen through a number of facility closures. This has been particularly evident within steel recycling, which saw a dip in Spring 2025 and has struggled to recover since.
View our more detailed metal price index here.
Organics
Organics prices in January 2026 remain stable.
View our more detailed organics price index here.
Plastics
The plastics market remains challenging this month, with large volumes of material reported post-Christmas, alongside continued competition from cheap imports from Asia.
The market has also been impacted by ongoing issues with the PRN which have hit plastics recyclers and exporters particularly hard as many rely on PRN/PERN revenue for price support.
As a result, prices for PET continue to fall and there has also been a slight fall in the prices paid for other grades including mixed bottles and LDPE film. Meanwhile, prices for HDPE bottles continue to hold up, with healthy demand reported.
View our more detailed paper price index here.
Textiles
In terms of banks at HWRCs, most merchants are now operating using a gate fee system – i.e. charging for the textiles they collect (rather than paying to collect them). This seems to be at a range of up to £80 per tonne.
Conversations seem to be accelerating regarding the effects of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on the textiles sector, with many local authorities considered over the cost burden they may have to shoulder.
Other grades have remained mostly stable.
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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