BIR Convention: Challenges grow for plastic markets

The move by India to ban the import of plastic scrap could create significant problems for the plastic scrap market, according to Surendra Patawari Borad of Gemini Corp., a Belgium-based plastics trading firm.

Borad made the remarks during the Plastics Committee meeting at the Bureau of International Recycling’s (BIR) 2016 World Recycling Convention in Berlin in late May.

In his remarks, Borad, who also is chairman of the BIR’s Plastics Committee, pointed out that India’s decision to ban the import of plastic scrap has left the market “in limbo” and is likely to result in substantial job losses, not least among those of the country’s recycling units, which relied on supplies from overseas.

“This is very sad,” Borad told delegates at the Committee’s meeting. “We hope that India will reconsider its decision of placing plastics scrap in the hazardous goods category.”

News of the ban was published in the Indian Gazette on April 4, 2016, and BIR duly informed its members of the development. However, the regulations were not enforced until late May, according to Borad. “All goods, which were loaded before April 4, are being customs-cleared,” he explained. “The goods which were loaded after April 4 will be allowed to be unloaded, but the importers cannot process them until further instructions are given.”

Meanwhile, Borad pointed out that plastics scrap availability in Europe “has increased tremendously” and prices have declined.

In regards to the plastic scrap market in China, Dr. Steve Wong of Fukutomi Co. Ltd, noted that a ban in China is unlikely in the near to medium term, not least because of the need to gain multi-department approval for such a measure. Wong, who also is executive president of the China Scrap Plastics Association, noted that Chinese authorities have been targeting for closure factories that fail to meet environmental standards designed to protect air, soil and water against pollution.

Reporting on the European market, Marc-Antoine Belthé of Veolia Propreté said that he is anticipating a relatively stable market in June against a backdrop of “very consistent” and “resilient” demand for recycled plastics.

Guest speaker at the Plastics Committee was Stephan Schwarz, the head of ALBA Group’s Plastics & E-Waste Business Unit, based in Germany. He spoke of the need for a flexible business approach to tackle “regulatory volatility”.

In a presentation entitled “Opportunities and challenges in plastics recycling,” Schwarz forecasted increasing demand for recycled plastics into the future.

Another speaker at the Plastics Committee session was Thorsten Diephaus of the transportation and logistics firm Panalpina Welttransport (Deutschland) GmbH who discussed the environment for the transportation sector. In his presentation, Diephaus said he anticipated “huge” operating losses for most carriers in 2016 as well as further cost reduction programs and the possibility of new, additional surcharges and of shipping rate increases at some point in the near future.

Additionally, interest in “waste” commodities might differ significantly from carrier to carrier, based on achievable rate levels, he added.