Prices for curbside plastic bales shot up over the past month, with PET bottles jumping by nearly one-third and natural HDPE notching another record.
Prices for curbside plastic bales shot up over the past month, with PET bottles jumping by nearly one-third and natural HDPE notching another record.

Grants will help fund glass recycling and many other materials recovery efforts in California. | safakcakir / Shutterstock
Over $10 million in cap-and-trade program dollars have been awarded to California companies that recover PET, glass and textiles.
MRFs are enjoying higher prices for scrap paper, plastic and metal bales this month, with notable increases for OCC, PET and HDPE.

Craig Cookson of the American Chemistry Council and Kate Bailey of Eco-Cycle spoke during a session moderated by Dan Leif of Plastics Recycling Update at the 2021 Plastics Recycling Conference. | Screenshot from the 2021 Plastics Recycling Conference.
The recent Plastics Recycling Conference, held online, featured eight sessions over two days. Here are some of the talking points that caught our team’s attention.

The U.S. exported 1.32 million short tons of recovered fiber in February, with India as the top destination. | MAGNIFIER/Shutterstock
U.S. exports of recovered plastic and paper remained consistent in February, despite global trade policy changes for both materials that went into effect at the beginning of the year.

Over $500,000 was awarded to nine local governments and one university to support local markets for recovered materials. | Jeffrey B. Banke/Shutterstock
A new recycling development center in the Pacific Northwest has issued over half a million dollars in grants to help boost domestic markets for recyclables.
Prices for a slew of curbside recyclables – OCC, UBCs, PET, HDPE and PP – all surged over the past month, bringing good news for MRFs.

Several companies forecast that fiber costs will continue to rise throughout 2021. | sylv1rob1/Shutterstock
Paper mill operators anticipate strong demand for corrugated packaging will continue to drive up prices for recovered fiber, according to recent earnings calls.

The past month has been marked by value boosts for recovered PET, HDPE and PP. Fiber grades recovered in curbside programs, however, have been flat or slightly down.
