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23recyclinginternational.com | July/August | 2020

How will plastic recyclers
get back on the horse?
Plastic recycling centres in the US are ‘really pinched’, according to

Sally Houghton. The materials manager at Plastic Recycling Corp. in

California says collection volumes are slowly but surely going up

again following a coronavirus-induced standstill.

‘But we’re still seeing a very limited
rate of redemption of containers in our
area,’ she says. ‘It’s hard to compete
with the extremely low prices of virgin
oil. Margins are very tight right now.’
On top of volatile prices, producers
are turning their back on rPET and
other grades as momentum towards
using recycled content fades. ‘The
recycling industry is on its knees. The
reality for recyclers is that unless they
experience immediate financial relief,
some of them won’t make it,’
Houghton warns.

wAKE-UP TIME
Following the lockdown in China and
heavy restrictions in many other coun-
tries, there has been little demand for
plastic scrap since early March. ‘It’s a log-
ical consequence,’ reasons Steve Wong
of the China Scrap Plastics Association.
He reports that domestic demand is still
low. ‘The import market is literally only
20 to 30% of the normal level.’
The good news, Wong observes, is
that Europe is ‘waking up again –
slowly’. Due to continuing health con-
cerns, there is strong demand for
plastic to produce personal protection
equipment, such as face shields, as
well as plastic packaging.

LIQUIDITy CONCERNS
Some recyclers are anxious that big
brands will prefer the cheaper option

PLASTICS SCRAP SHIPMENTS DRy UP
Due to low oil
prices and the
coronavirus,
plastics scrap
shipments have
dropped dra-
matically, con-
firms Max
Craipeau of
Hong Kong-
based
Greencore
Resources,
which operates

plastics recycling facilities in Asia and Europe.
In 2018, the company successfully started up a
plant in Surabaya on eastern Java, Indonesia. But
then came the virus and shipment of high quality
granules to China stopped between January and
March. He says the good news is that business is
picking up again, although not yet back to pre-
pandemic levels.
According to Craipeau, many multinationals based
in the USA, Europe, Japan and South Korea are
already looking to move manufacturing operations
from China to other countries in the region.
However, he says, ‘you cannot switch such a huge
production capacity overnight’ and the process
could take ‘months or years’.

of plastic from oil and simply abandon
their 2025 recycling commitments. ‘I
sincerely hope this won’t be the case.
But they will likely scale down their
ambitions,’ Houghton says. ‘As yet, it
is unclear when things will go back to
normal – or just how normal that new
scenario will be’.
Henk Alssema of Vita Plastics in the
Netherlands confirms that the price
gap between virgin and recycled plas-
tics has ‘melted away’. Recycling com-
panies are going through ‘one of the
most challenging times’. ‘First we had
trade wars and the Brexit uncertainty,
now we have huge stocks and post-
Covid liquidity concerns.’ The latter is
a bitter pill to swallow for companies
that have made large investments in
recent years, he adds.

UAE fALLS BEHIND
One of the most pressing issues for
people in the Middle East is that bot-
tles are becoming thinner and lighter.
‘It’s got to a point where waste collec-
tors are considering whether or not to
collect them,’ says Mahmoud Al Sharif
of Sharif Metals, adding they are get-
ting less money for the same quantity
of bottles.
‘We have also fallen behind in terms
of awareness,’ notes Al Sharif, who is
based in the United Arab Emirates.
‘Not all authority figures realise plastic
scrap is a resource. They may have

given permission to set up plastic
recycling facilities but there is not
enough volume available due to the
plastic waste ban.’
He adds: ‘We also need advanced
technology, more legislation to sup-
port circular solutions, and better
infrastructure to encourage businesses
to build recycling centres in our
region.’ In conclusion, the Gulf Coast
has a ‘long way to go’ to catch up
with best practice elsewhere.

Max Craipeau.

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