Shortage of wipers brings price rise for textile recyclers

Speaking at the Textile Recycling Association's annual dinner in London last week, Britannia Wipers manager Ross Barry said that a sudden shortage of some grades of rag had lead to a few sharp rises – balancing out to a 5% rise.

” Any rise in price for either raw material or cut wipers must be seen as a good thing for sorting mills. However, if shortages continue, end users will obviously look for alternative products. “
– Ross Barry, Britannia Wipers
Mr Barry attributed the changes to more clothing being exported abroad and the closure of UK sorting mills (see letsrecycle.com story). He explained that rag which had previously found its way back to the UK was also developing markets overseas.

He said: “For once the wiper market seems to be seeing some changes, I'm not sure if it is positive, shortages on particular grade has resulted in some prices rises.”

“Clearly any rise in price for either raw material or cut wipers must be seen as a good thing for sorting mills. However, if shortages continue, end users will obviously look for alternative products,” he warned.

Market
Mr Barry – who produces 30 tonnes of wipers a week for applications such as the aviation industry at his textile recycling facility in Canning Town – warned that companies such as SCA and Kimberley Clark which produce non-recycled wipers were already claiming some of the recycled wiper market.

He said: “Companies often criticise the lack of uniformity of recycled rags and with combined marketing budgets that dwarf most wiper manufacturers' turnover the future may not be that bright.”

Environment
However, the Britannia Wiper manager and member of Lawrence M Barry and Co said that, as the environment moved up the public and political agenda, he expected recycled wipers to become more and more popular.

He explained that recycled wipers made of materials such as cotton in particular would always be stronger for use in industry than synthetic materials.

He said: “We are doing a lot of work on marketing recycled wipers as environmentally friendly cleaning products and are currently trying to sell them to the Greater London Authority. There should be a growing demand due to increasing awareness about the environment.”