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Recyclers who have enjoyed strong global demand and accompanying lofty pricing for most of the past 10 years generally save their complaints for the supply side of the equation. As is noted in the feature “Pulp Fiction?,” starting on page 26 of this issue, paper recyclers have been particularly under stress to recover any and all discarded fibre they can retrieve. The demand for recovered fibre and scrap metals has caused some recovery or recycling rates to hit impressive levels during this stretch. In a presentation at WasteExpo Las Vegas in late April, David Keeling of the United States-based Steel Recycling Institute also reported appliance recycling rates in that country in the 90% range. “With scrap prices being pretty good, there are very few illegal dumping problems with appliances,” he commented. Secondary fibre recovery rates also were discussed as part of the WasteExpo programme, with presenter Bill Moore of United States-based Moore & Associates offering figures as high as 85% for old corrugated containers (OCC) in the United States, and high recovery rate figures for many grades in parts of Europe. Recyclers clearly have shown an ability to reach high recovery rates for secondary fibre, sometimes in cooperation with government entities in the case of post-consumer materials. In both Europe and the United States, recyclers have demonstrated some anxiety about keeping recovered paper and plastic in traditional recycling loops in the face of a growing waste-to-energy conversion industry. Throughout much of Europe, much of this dialog has already taken place, as energy-from-waste systems or facilities are well established and the recycling infrastructure has remained in place. In the United States, some of this discussion is now emerging. (The Recycling Today Media Group intends to be part of the discussion in the U.S., in its traditional recycling publications as well as in the newly-launched Renewable Energy from Waste publication, www.REWmag.com.) To say that consensus has been reached in the U.S. is premature, although most energy-from-waste advocates are declaring they have no intention of cutting into existing paper or plastic recycling efforts. Those that don’t often are facing a backlash from the private sector and the public. Recyclers of some materials—especially when they are at lower pricing levels—often say that their competition is the incinerator or landfill. Now they can add waste conversion facilities. As has been the case for the previous 10 years, collectors and processors will continue to search in even the remote corners of their regional markets for materials to recycle. |
