Plenty of business for plastics recyclers, says BIR

There is plenty of business for all of us – in trade, transfer of technology and joint ventures

 
Surendra Borad, BIR

Speaking at the organisation's World Recycling Convention in Dubai last week (May 27), Surendra Borad said that plastics scrap had weathered the global economic storm better than other commodities and better that had been feared at the last BIR convention in October 2008.

He claimed that plastic scrap prices had been improving – partly on the back of the stockpiling capacity of traders in Europe – and that much of the negative sentiment felt last year had been an “over-reaction”.

Mr Borad, of Belgium-based waste and recycling company Gemini Corporation NV, added that business was “booming” in some developing countries such as India where new sorting plants were coming on stream.

And, looking at markets across the world, he said that an increase in the availability of containers had pushed up prices in the USA and there was good demand from China. He also noted that proposed pre-inspection controls on recovered paper and scrap metal sent to India did not appear to extend to secondary plastics.

He said: “There is plenty of business for all of us – in trade, transfer of technology and joint ventures.”

Drop

Also speaking at the meeting, Jacques Musa, of Veolia Properte France Recycling, claimed that French plastics recycling companies had experienced a 50% drop in orders compared to the same period last year but that Chinese buyers had made a “strong return” to the market in late April.

However, Peter Daly of Daly Plastics in the Netherlands claimed that there was “unpredictability” in Chinese buyers, with many jumping from one supplier to another and claimed that the export market was no “over-the-top” with a possible correction anticipated.

Reporting on output, Mr Daly told the plastics committee members that plastics recycling companies in Europe were only operating at 50% of their capacity.

Looking at emerging markets, guest speaker Rajnish Sinha, general manager of Horizon Technologies in the United Arab Emirates, claimed that the Middle East was “not doing nearly enough to recycle plastics” despite consuming large amounts but, on a global scale, he was encouraged by the increased use of recycled content by large companies such as Coca-Cola and Marks & Spencer.