The price of natural HDPE has decreased by nearly 5% over the past month, but color HDPE and PET have shown stability.
The national average price of post-consumer PET beverage bottles and jars remained constant over the past month at 15.54 cents per pound. This time last year, PET was trading at an equivalent level of 15.89 cents per pound.
The price of post-consumer natural high-density polyethylene (HDPE) from curbside collection programs continues to drop. The current national average price is 20.84 cents per pound, compared with 21.88 cents this time last month. One year ago, the national average for this grade was 37.50 cents per pound. The current low price range remains the lowest since February 2016, when average national prices were around 22 cents per pound. By comparison, highs of 52.69 cents per pound occurred in October 2014.
Meanwhile, the national average price of color HDPE remained constant over the past month, now trading at 13.75 cents per pound. Last month, the national average was 13.56 cents per pound. One year ago, this grade was trading at 15.94 cents per pound.
The national average price of HDPE rigid materials dropped drastically over the past month, now trading at 4.52 cents per pound, compared with 7.44 cents per pound in mid-April. One year ago, this material traded nationally at 10.06 cents per pound.
The national average price of Grade A film is up again this past month, now trading in the range of 12.81 cents per pound, compared with 9.81 cents per pound last month. This grade traded at 11.72 cents per pound one year ago.
Grade B film is also trading up at 4.25 cents per pound, compared with 3.13 cents per pound last month.
Grade C film is still trading at a nominal 1.38 cents per pound.
These prices are as reported on the Secondary Materials Pricing (SMP) Index. This pricing represents what is being paid for post-consumer recyclable materials in a sorted, baled format, picked up at most major recycling centers.
For a free trial to SMP’s Online Post-Consumer Pricing Index, visit the Recycling Markets website. You can also contact Christina Boulanger-Bosley at cmb@recyclingmarkets.net or 330-956-8911.
