Recycled waste markets collapse<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (Reuter): The Western world's penchant for recycling
\nhas produced such huge mountains of unsold waste that markets in
\nused paper, plastic and bottles have collapsed.<\/p>\n
Prices have fallen so far in the past year that in its latest
\ndeal with Indonesia, Australia's A$100 million-per-year recycling
\nindustry may actually be paying Indonesia to accept its refuse.<\/p>\n
The international price for recycled plastic bottles, or PET,
\nhas dropped to about US$200 a ton from $700 late last year and
\nthe price of used paper has fallen to between $70 and $80 a ton
\nfrom a peak of $200 in 1995.<\/p>\n
Rob Campbell, general manager of Sydney's Local Government
\nRecycling Co-operative, which has just signed a deal with
\nIndonesia for the export of 6,000 tons of paper, said the export
\nprice is now so marginal his group will stop exporting.<\/p>\n
Australia normally exports about 130,000 tons of used paper a
\nyear worth a total US$13 million at a price of $75 a ton.<\/p>\n
But in the most recent deal, Australia was being required to
\nprovide financial sweeteners that will ultimately result in
\nAustralia paying Indonesia about $5 a ton to take the paper away,
\nsaid Tony Nott, general manager for export and trading at
\nAustralian Paper, a pulp and paper producer owned by the big
\nAmcor Ltd group.<\/p>\n
\"People want to recycle so they keep putting more out. (But)
\nthere is (only) a certain amount of capacity,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Australian capacity might increase by one to two percent a
\nyear while the amount of recycled waste was growing by 10 percent
\na year, Nott said.<\/p>\n
Asia's six-million-ton-a-year waste paper market, worth A$500
\nmillion a year at current prices, has been depressed for about a
\nyear, mainly due to a flood of waste paper from Europe.<\/p>\n
Waste paper importing nations, including Korea, Indonesia,
\nTaiwan, China, Thailand and the Philippines, traditionally have
\ntaken most of their supply from the United States.<\/p>\n
But legislation in European countries requiring recycled waste
\nrecovery had not addressed where to put the salvaged materials,
\nNott said.<\/p>\n
The United States was slightly less awash with recycled waste
\nthan Australia and Europe because it had cut back on collections,
\nbringing its recycled waste market more into balance, he said.<\/p>\n
With total world usage of waste paper at about 90 million tons
\na year, \"in any market it does not take very much for it to get
\nout of balance,\" Nott said.<\/p>\n
The recycled PET problem has been worsened by a 1995 cotton
\ncrop failure in Asia which boosted demand for plastics for use in
\nfiber. This led to an increase in waste PET production to meet
\nthat demand, Campbell said, but when demand eventually slackened
\na supply glut was left over. \"This commodity is going up and down
\nlike a yo-yo\" as government policy drives up production, he said.<\/p>\n
Some in the recycled waste industry believe markets might pick
\nup later this year. Others believe an upturn could be a year
\naway. \"(But) there's nothing in the short-term to say it's going
\nto get better in the next three months,\" Nott said.<\/p>\n
Australia alone is generating one million tons of recycled
\nwaste per year. \"There are stockpiles of PET all around Sydney.
\nWhere is all that to go?\" said Campbell.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/recycled-waste-markets-collapse-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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