The market for the majority of recycling commodities has moved upward in June, including for MIX paper which is very encouraging. Let me try to explain how this occurred, beginning with the plastic grades.  A significant portion of recycled plastics finds its way to the construction, landscaping, irrigation and outdoor furniture industries.  All of these… Read more »

The market for ResMix received in May has changed little from the pricing in April.  Notably, that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story of changes to the recycling market over the past four weeks. Prior to May 3rd Pioneer had indications that the market for OCC cardboard would move up by $20+/Ton in May. … Read more »

The market for recyclables in April has continued the trend established in March of lower paper prices and higher pricing for many plastics and metals.  Because paper represents about 75% of the comingled yield, the overall value of ResMix has declined again in April. The decline in paper pricing is simply a function of supply… Read more »

To best understand the market for recyclables in March, one must distinguish between paper and the container grades (metal and plastic) as described below. (If you are short of time – the summary version is that while paper has continued to decline, plastics and metals have increased as is normal this time of year.  The… Read more »

The market for recyclables has continued to move lower in February.  This results from the precipitous decline in demand from Chinese buyers….Stop!!  — Somehow the normal “economist speak” just doesn’t do justice to the current state of the market for recyclables.  A better way to describe the current situation is something like “The market for… Read more »

It’s the beginning of a New Year and an entirely new environment for the Recycling Industry.  Beginning on January 2nd, we started hearing from Chinese buyers that they were cancelling existing orders and requiring bale breaking inspections before any shipments could resume.  Additionally, they made clear that we would be required to meet the new… Read more »

The market for recyclables has mostly moved sideways with the exception of MIX paper which has declined significantly.  Let’s talk about MIX pricing first as this is a case of a classic demand shift. Earlier this year the Chinese announced that they would no longer purchase MIX paper as of Jan 2018.  The announcement alone… Read more »

The market for paper recyclables has moved up in November. The movement has been strong enough to improve the value of ResMix in spite of selected price declines in the plastic grades. To begin this month’s analysis, I must admit that I was not expecting to see a price increase in November given what we… Read more »

The market for recyclable commodities has once again dropped significantly over the past four weeks. This is especially true for the export market where OCC has declined by as much as $55/ton and ONP by $30/Ton. These declines have occurred because of the normal seasonal factor of lower demand in the Fall, as well as… Read more »

Chaos is the word that best describes the market for many recyclable commodities today. Since last month the Chinese government has become more strident in their resolve to ban the importation of MIX paper and all grades of scrap plastic. Mill buyers have become more fearful. Orders for MIX are virtually non-existent and are not… Read more »