Glass recycling firm Recresco has slashed its mixed glass price in response to the declining value of packaging waste recovery notes (PRNs) and forewarned of a difficult trading climate for glass on the horizon.
The prices represent even further falls from those seen in the wider market at the end of September, when the prices for green and mixed glass experienced their most substantial falls for over a year (see letsrecycle.com story).
The decline has been linked to a slump in the price being paid for glass packaging recovery notes, which fell from around £18 per tonne in August to around £11.50 per tonne in October. Glass is unlike other materials in that a large proportion of its value is tied to the PRN value and it is anticipated that the PRN price may now have fallen as low as £7 per tonne.
Recresco claims that a continued low price for PRNs could lead to even greater declines in the near future and has suggested that it could, ultimately, lead to reprocessors being paid to take material.
A spokesman for the company said: “Due to the falling value of glass PRNs, Recresco will be paying £8-10 per tonne gate fee for mixed glass. If the trend continues we can see mixed glass being accepted FOC [free-of-charge] with the possibility of a gate fee being charged by the end of the year.”
Ahead of this announcement, figures published by the Environment Agency indicated that there was already a surplus of PRNs on the market, putting downward pressure on prices (see letsrecycle.com story).
And, the situation looks likely to continue after the government last week announced that it would not be raising glass packaging recycling targets in 2011 and 2012, thereby reducing demand (see letsrecycle.com story).
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today (November 1), Tim Gent, a director of Recresco said: “We can carry the price [of glass] for a little bit when the PRN falls but now we know it is going to remain valueless next year and the year after, we just can't.”
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