The price of crude oil fell fairly dramatically at the end of January and is only slowly recovering. Because of this, some plastics recyclers have warned that waste plastic prices may follow in the next few months in order to compete with virgin plastics.
“The price of polymer has come down, so scrap will also have to fall in order to compete with the polymer price,” one recycler told letsrecycle.com.
Although the export market for waste plastics is regaining some momentum after a slump in December and January, some UK exporters are feeling “a little nervous” as the Environment Agency enforces Waste Shipment Regulations more vigorously.
Last month, the Agency revealed that it was investigating illegal exports from the UK of waste plastics to India (see letsrecycle.com story).
And earlier this month, illegal shipments of co-mingled recyclables were returned to the Republic of Ireland because the waste companies involved did not notify the proper authorities (see letsrecycle.com story).
The tightening of Chinese ports on taking PET is also causing some concern, with some now only accepting flaked PET but not bottles. The Bureau of International Recycling has warned that this move comes as part of wider restrictions being imposed on European and American companies sending waste plastics to China.
A statement from the BIR explained: “At the moment, a European or US exporter requires a licence to get his material into China; this licence must be issued by the Chinese and so has nothing to do with EVOA (EU Waste Shipment) regulations. By July 1, every exporter must hold this licence otherwise he will not be in a position to lodge his order with the CCIC (China Certification & Inspection Co.) to check.”
Some UK exporters have reported that they are still able to send PET bottles to China but they are finding the international and domestic markets for most waste plastics slow. “Everybody was very busy at Christmas but now it has slowed. It's just a seasonal trend but it should pick up again for Easter,” a plastics exporter said.
Domestic
Although the export markets for materials are uncertain, domestically more material is becoming available as more local authorities add plastic bottles to their recycling schemes, creating a more secure source of materials.
Despite this increase in material, the low value of Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) continues to have a detrimental affect on the UK plastics recycling industry.
The general price of plastic PRNs in January went up to 6-9 from 3-6 in December 2003, but plastics recyclers are saying that this is not nearly enough to encourage more recycling and investment.
Several UK recyclers have said some companies have been considering dropping out of the PRN scheme as the financial benefit was questionable. One recycler explained: “We have given up with PRNs, it's not even worth doing anymore. It costs more to do the paperwork than you get back from the sale of the PRN.”
He added: “There's no real benefit in being accredited. The only people benefiting from PRNs are the obligated parties who get the lowest prices.”
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