On the list are plastics with undetectable carbon black, PVC, PVDC, EPS, PS, PETG in rigid plastic and oxo-degradable plastics. | wk1003mike/Shutterstock
The Canada Plastics Pact released nine design rules to move toward a circular economy, a document that included a list of “problematic plastics” to avoid. Continue Reading
All grades of commonly sorted curbside plastic experienced substantial price increases this month.
The national average price of post-consumer PET beverage bottles and jars moved up by 17% this month. The per-pound price is now averaging 39.22 cents, compared with 33.42 cents per pound this time last month. Some regions are trading as high as 49.00 cents per pound. PET was trading at 12.03 cents one year ago.
Natural high-density polyethylene (HDPE) from curbside collection programs is up 13%, now at an average 53.72 cents per pound. This compares with 47.47 cents last month. The price was 83.72 cents this time last year.
The national average price of color HDPE is up 12%, now trading at 28.94 cents per pound, compared with 25.75 cents last month. This grade averaged 31.94 cents one year ago.
Polypropylene (PP) is also selling for more money this month. The price is averaging 34.56 cents per pound, up 17% from last month’s average of 29.44 cents per pound. PP was 29.69 cents one year ago.
A couple of film grades are also experiencing rising values this month. The national average price of Grade A film is up 3%, at 21.13 cents per pound. This grade was trading at 15.63 cents one year ago.
Grade B film is now 7.44 cents, compared with 5.63 one year ago.
Grade C film is still averaging 0.81 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 [email protected] or 330-956-8911.
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GreenLabs Recycling recently hit 100,000 pounds of plastic recycled since it began collecting material in 2019. | Courtesy of GreenLabs Recycling
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In a session moderated by Roxanne Spiekerman (left), resin markets experts Marcelo Wasem (center) and Joel Morales (right) presented their analysis to attendees at the 2022 Plastics Recycling Conference. | Brian Adams Photo/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Post-consumer HDPE and PP prices have been hot lately, and they’re likely to stay that way given consistently strong demand and relatively slow supply increases, according to one market expert.
The U.S. Plastics Pact has identified several important takeaways for the coming years after a workshop at the Plastics Recycling Conference. | Marina Onokhina/Shutterstock
ACI Plastics will bring 21 jobs to South Carolina with the new $4 million processing facility. | mofaez/Shutterstock
Michigan-based reclaimer ACI Plastics is establishing operations in Pickens County, S.C., to process post-industrial and pre-consumer scrap plastics from southeast molders.
Over the next several years Indorama will invest over $8 billion in chemical recycling and bio-derived plastics. | CAHYADI SUGI/Shutterstock
Chasing its sustainability goals, global PET producer Indorama is going to spend $8 billion over the next eight years to help scale up chemically recycled and bio-based plastics.