China has issued its latest round of import permits for scrap materials, and approved volumes remain particularly low on the plastics side.
China has issued its latest round of import permits for scrap materials, and approved volumes remain particularly low on the plastics side.
In the course of one year, Los Angeles-area exporters cut their scrap polyethylene shipments to China by 99 percent, leaving thousands of tons of plastic looking for a home. Other countries were only able to absorb about one-fifth of the volume.
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China have come closer to directly impacting the plastics recycling industry.
Prices continue to climb for PET and HDPE containers collected at the curb, but the news wasn’t so good for mixed plastics, which have a negative value in many regions.
An initiative that has been the source of industry debate over recovery of hard-to-recycle plastic packaging is awarding $100,000 in grants to expand to more communities.
A robotic sorting system, PET packaging breakthrough and melt filter advancement took the limelight in this year’s Plastics Recycling Showcase.
Prime plastic developments have occurred in the past two weeks, and they carry the potential to impact recycled resin prices.
Li Ganjie, China’s minister of environmental protection
China’s top environmental official has quantified the reduction in scrap materials flowing into the country as a result of recent restrictions. He also spoke publicly about the market fallout and the criticism China has received for enacting its reforms.
Last year presented an upheaval in the global recovered plastics market, and the impacts continue to roll in. Three experts recently shared their thoughts on the specific causes of the volatility.
Officials in China have announced an enforcement campaign to implement the country’s new import restrictions.