For plastic recyclers, the glass may seem half empty when they consider the tons of plastic scrap that go unrecycled, or it can seem half full when they also consider the many opportunities to redirect that same material.
Delegates at the Plastics Committee meeting at the 2015 Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) World Recycling Convention & Exhibition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in May heard comments about the challenges and opportunities present in the sector.
Plastics Committee Chairman Surendra Borad of Antwerp, Belgium-based Gemini Corp. said falling oil prices in late 2014 and in January 2015 brought down the price of virgin plastic and of plastic scrap.
However, Borad said a direct correlation between oil prices and plastic scrap prices has not held up throughout the year. Using LDPE (low-density polyethylene) scrap in Europe as his example, he commented, “When the oil price came down to around $45 per barrel during mid-March, the plastic scrap price did not come down. On the contrary, it increased to almost the €560 [per ton] level, which is higher than the prices prevailing before the oil prices dropped.”
Regarding current conditions in Europe, Borad said, “Less and less material is available for export due to an increase in local [reprocessing] within Europe. Due to less availability of plastic scrap, prices of plastic scrap may sustain at the current market level.”
How plastic scrap fares in the second half of 2015 will in part rely on the Chinese economy, Borad said, adding, “When China sneezes, we in Europe get a cold. When China gets a cold, we get a fever. And when China has a fever, we get pneumonia.”
Fellow BIR Plastics Committee member Steve Wong of Hong Kong-based Fukutomi Co. Ltd., said the Green Fence in China may get even higher for plastics recyclers, as China’s customs agency and environment ministry will soon require an environmental “assessment” of all inbound shipments registered as plastic scrap. He said the new procedure is expected to be implemented in China during the second half of this year.
He said demand for plastic scrap in China nonetheless remains strong, with manufacturers of agricultural film in particular consuming LDPE and HDPE (high-density polyethylene) scrap. This agricultural film also is increasingly collected for recycling after it is used, Wong said.
Guest presenters Mahmoud Al Sharif Jr. of UAE-based Sharif Metals International and Katharina Goeschl of UAE-based Emirates Environmental Technology provided overviews on plastic recycling conditions in the host region.
Sharif said governments in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region are investing heavily in plastics production, with Abu Dhabi, UAE, building a Polymers Park and Saudi Arabia constructing 14 industrial cities, many of which will have primary plastics production plants. Saudi Arabia “aims to be a global top 10 exporter” of plastics, he said.
Sharif said some products, such as outdoor furniture and insulation, currently are being made from plastic scrap in the GCC region, but “much of what is collected is exported to China.”
Collection of plastic scrap in many GCC nations is still in the early development stages, but a lot is generated, Sharif said. “Tremendous tonnage is produced in different forms every year.”
Goeschl said the UAE alone generates enough municipal solid waste (MSW) each year to fill 550,000 shipping containers, and some 21% of it is plastic. Both in practice and by mentality, the vast majority of this material heads to affordable (no cost, in many cases) landfills.
Tied into its Vision 2021 plan, the UAE has set a goal of diverting 75% of its MSW, with a revised target date of 2030. The government has determined “that recycling should be prioritized,” but the details as to what combination of recycling plants and waste-to-energy facilities will be built are not final.
The 2015 BIR World Recycling Convention & Exhibition was 17-20 May at the InterContinental Festival City in Dubai.