RECYCLING: All Bottled Up

In recent years North American municipalities have seen demand grow for recovered plastic bottles from overseas markets that pay high spot prices for the material. Although financially beneficial in the short-term, the decision by municipalities to export increasing volumes of baled plastic bottles has the potential to threaten the long-term viability of the domestic plastic bottle recycling industry and the domestic manufacturing of recycled products across North America.



Today, the downstream plastic recycling industry comprises approximately 1,400 companies involved in acquiring and/or reprocessing post-consumer plastic bottles. Without a steady supply of these materials many of these environmentally conscious and entrepreneurial companies may face serious setbacks. This, in turn, could place the thousands of jobs and millions of dollars invested in the plastic recycling industry at risk. Ultimately, municipalities may lose the option of selling sorted plastic bales to reliable and responsive long-term domestic recyclers serving local recycling markets.



According to recycling capacity statistics from the U.S.-based American Plastics Council (APC), the North American reclamation-wash capacity for both polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic bottles exceeds supply from plastic recovery programs by a significant margin. Estimates show that the excess wash and recycling capacity for PET bottles was approximately 330 million pounds for 2002, while HDPE bottle excess capacity was 378 million pounds for the same year.



The unused domestic plastic bottle recycling capacity is increased by higher exports of baled plastic bottles sold to offshore recycling markets. APC and the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC) are working to communicate the potential consequences of an alarming trend showing exports of baled plastic bottles increasing by 17.5 per cent in 2002 to reach 275 million export pounds in PET alone. APC also estimates that approximately 105 million pounds of HDPE bottles were also exported in 2002.



Domestic markets for recycled plastic bottles



PET and HDPE bottles continue to be the two most common types of plastic resin recycled in North America. According to APC, the demand for post-consumer PET continues to exceed the supply of recycled PET bottle resin. Fibre — like the kind used to make fleece clothing and blankets, as well as stuffing for upholstery, sleeping bags and ski jackets — remains the number one application for recycled PET. This market alone represents approximately 56 per cent of the total PET recycling market. Fibre is followed by new food and beverage containers at 17 per cent, strapping at 16 per cent, non-food containers at seven per cent, film/sheet at two per cent, compounded resin at two per cent and “other” at one per cent.



Forty-five per cent of recycled HDPE bottles are made into new bottles, 14 per cent into pipe, 11 per cent into film/sheet, 10 per cent into lawn and garden supplies, eight per cent (and growing) into composite-lumber applications, one per cent into pallets/crates/buckets and the remaining 11 per cent is made into “other” markets. This latter category includes automotive products, such as bed liners and mud flaps.



Views on the street



Despite the potential increased revenue from selling recovered plastic bottles into overseas markets, Rick Clow, General Manager for Quinte Waste Solutions, has not had reason to investigate this option.



“To date we haven’t seen any foreign offers higher in price than what we have been getting domestically,” he says, adding that longer payment periods and foreign currency adjustments could potentially wipe out any higher prices attained.



“We have long-term contacts in place that we’re pleased with,” he states, adding that those individuals buying on behalf of the overseas markets haven’t been consistent in cont