MRFs are seeing more containers and office paper in the residential stream as Americans continue to stay home in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. | Evan Lorne/Shutterstock
MRFs are seeing more containers and office paper in the residential stream as Americans continue to stay home in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. | Evan Lorne/Shutterstock
During the third quarter, Waste Management enjoyed commodity prices that averaged 33% higher than the prior-year period. | David Tonelson/Shutterstock
The waste sector’s biggest companies extended their recycling business rebound into the second half of this year, helped by higher fiber prices.
In survey responses, MRFs reported that average value of curbside recyclables went up considerably in the fourth quarter of 2020. | jantsarik/Shutterstock
Recycling processors know that 2020 ended strongly when it comes to commodity values. Two recent surveys quantify the blended-value boost.
Republic Services and other major North American waste and recycling haulers benefitted from higher commodity prices last year.| RozenskiP/Shutterstock
Higher commodity prices boosted recycling revenues for Waste Management, Republic Services and North America’s other largest haulers last year, according to earnings reports.
Revenue from Waste Management’s recycling business fell by 20% last year, but earnings were nearly flat. | Dan Leif/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Lower commodity prices continued to batter recycling revenues for the largest garbage and recycling companies last year. But recent moves to charge communities for MRF processing helped soften the financial blow.
Like the other haulers, GFL reported first-quarter commodity prices were substantially down year over year. | H_Ko/Shutterstock
GFL Environmental reported the first-quarter average recyclables price was down 32% year over year. But since then, the price has increased, with OCC hitting $200 a ton in some areas.
A leader with Waste Connections said that his company has seen increased collection volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic. | Resource Recycling file photo.
Two large publicly held waste and recycling companies are taking in higher residential volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they say contamination has been flat. Recently, they’ve also started seeing critical upticks on the commercial side.
In 2019, Republic Services opened a tech-heavy MRF in Plano, Texas that uses a positive-sorting approach to produce clean bales.
Republic Services spent $34 million on equipment upgrades at its recycling facilities last year, and it closed 12 MRFs in a consolidation effort.
Crossroads Paper CEO John Sasine speaks at an event July 10 announcing the paper mill. | Credit: Brenden Brunnette.
A containerboard mill using entirely OCC and mixed paper is in development in Utah. The project stands as a rare case of a recycling company expanding into the end market sector.
A handful of industry groups and plastics producers are teaming up on a 60-day effort to try to capture a wider variety of materials from the flow of curbside recyclables in Portland, Ore.