Page 13 from: Recycling International September/October issue | 2022
TRENDS & UPDATES
13recyclinginternational.com | September/October | 2022
MINT INNOVATION OPENS UP SHOP DOWN
UNDER
Mint Innovation has opened its first commercial scale bio-
refinery plant in Australia.
The company celebrated the
official opening of the commer-
cial bio-refinery in the
Cumberland area of Sydney at
an event attended by the local
mayor, Lisa Lake, who supported
construction of the site. The
facility in New South Wales is
said to be the first of its kind and is set to process over 3 000
tonnes of local e-scrap a year.
Using an eco-friendly bio-leaching method, metals such as
gold will be repurposed for other products, powering the
local circular economy. The innovative recovery process uses
only 2% of the power and water per kilogram of gold com-
pared with conventional mined resources.
‘Our team is looking forward to working closely with
Cumberland City Council to tackle the growing waste issue
together,’ says Mint Innovation ceo Will Barker.
Veerweg 9
5145 NS Waalwijk
The Netherlands
T: +31 416 673 854
[email protected]
We buy
Magnesium
Scrap
Worldwide
Adv Allied Magnesium.indd 2 14-10-15 13:02
STEEL OUTPUT FALLS
The latest estimates from the World Steel
Association show world steel production
declined 6.5% year-on-year in July to 149.3 mil-
lion tonnes.
Data for individual countries showed Chinese out-
put was down 6.4% both for July year-on-year and
the year to date to 81.4 million tonnes and 609.3
million tonnes, respectively. The association esti-
mates Russian production was down 13.2% year-
on-year in July and is down 7% overall for the year
so far.
Turkish steel production reportedly plunged 20.7%
compared to July 2021 to 2.7 million tonnes. US
output also contracted in July, decreasing 6.4%
year-on-year to 7 million tonnes. So far this year,
the US total has declined 3%.
Of the other leading producers, India’s total in July
was 10.1 million tonnes, up 3.2% year-on-year;
Japan 7.3 million tonnes (down 8.5%); South Korea
6.1 million tonnes (down 0.6%); Germany 3.0 mil-
lion tonnes (down 2.0%); Brazil 2.8 million tonnes
(down 8.7%) and Iran 2.0 million tonnes (up 34.1%).
For more market info, see page 62.
WAR AND COVID BLIGHT PLASTICS MARKET
Bottlenecks in international supply chains because of the war in
Ukraine and China’s zero-Covid policy continue to dog the glob-
al trade in plastic scrap.
The message that ‘growth in global trade is under pressure and
2022 is still a poisoned chalice’ comes from BIR in its latest quarter-
ly Mirror on the plastics market. Division chairman Henk Alssema
says these uncertainties are putting pressure on the prices of recy-
cled raw materials in Europe.
‘Whereas prices achieved record highs last year, we are now looking
at substantial price drops, with polypropylene being hit hardest,’ he
writes. ‘Supply of PP waste has risen over the past month, in sharp
contrast with the previous period when recyclers had to accept any
price increase to obtain any material at all for their production
operations.’
Alssema notes that prices for LDPE are stable with ‘satisfactory’
demand whereas HDPE is under pressure, albeit to a lesser extent
than PP. HIPS and ABS are not affected and prices for these materi-
als are still fairly level. ‘Despite recent price drops, plastics recyclers
can look back on an extremely good first six months of the year,’ he
says.
‘Nearly everyone is taking account of the fact that the market will
cool off during the last six months of 2022, and the first signs of this
cooling are starting to emerge. End-processors are cautious about
ordering raw materials and are using up old stock rather than creat-
ing any more inventory. At the same time, manufacturers are sus-
pending weekend production as a result of disappointing order lev-
els.’
For his part, fellow board member Max Craipeau of Greencore
Resources in China, says ‘the party seems to be over’ for polymers
after over 12 months of continuous price increases. He makes an
exception of rPET which continues to be supported by minimum
recycled content mandates and brand owners’ commitments in
Europe as well as in Asia.
‘Last year’s price rally and more legislation in favour of recycled
content have led to massive investments in recycling capacity across
the globe. However, we are reaching the point where recycling
capacity exceeds the volumes of waste feedstock being collected.’
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