Food grade r-PET is 650 euros/ton more expensive than virgin material! The price of recycled plastic in Europe keeps rising

Producers of recycled plastic continued to raise prices in June, despite a sharp drop in the cost of virgin plastic. Although the economic environment has deteriorated and the demand for virgin plastic has gradually decreased, the price of recycled plastic has continued to rise thanks to high demand and low import volume.

With the exception of homopolymer r-PP, all grades of recycled plastic saw strong price increases in June. The popularity of r-PET is still the highest, and the growth rate is as high as three digits. Due to the limited cost increase, relatively speaking, recycling companies can obtain higher profits. There are signs that r-PET demand is slowing as the price gap between virgin PET and r-PET widens significantly this year. Affected by the sky-high price of native PS, the price of r-HIPS has risen, and processing companies have turned to r-HIPS to replace it. Recycled polyolefin prices are also rising.

Almost all recycling businesses saw an increase in order volumes as more and more customers launched sustainability programmes. There are also signs of a rebound in the demand for recycled plastics in electronics and automobiles.

By July, the recycled plastics prices will rise further because of the high cost of recycling in July. However, the extent of planned price increases has been limited by seasonal shutdowns over the European summer holidays, which dampened demand for recycled plastics.

Recycled plastics refer to chemical raw materials that are recovered by physical or chemical methods such as pretreatment, melt granulation, modification, etc. of waste recycled plastics. It is the reuse of plastics. Through resource recycling, it can also be To achieve environmental protection and energy saving. And recycled plastics are as widely used as ordinary plastics, and downstream applications involve textiles, packaging, building materials, automobiles, medical care, electronics and other fields.

Among the waste plastics, PET, HDPE and other specific varieties are hard in texture, large in amount, easy to recycle, and have a wide range of downstream applications. In this reality, the cost of high-quality recycled plastics will be higher than the price of virgin materials, because the waste from which high-quality recycled plastics are produced is already scarce, resulting in high prices for high-quality recycled plastics.

The specific situation of each category

r-PET

r-PET producers drove triple-digit price increases in June amid good demand and low supply. The waste bottle cost has only increased by 10-20 EUR/t, so the profit has improved.

Demand for r-PET has eased due to the increasing price difference between recycled and virgin materials. In June, the price of transparent food-grade r-PET pellets was €650/t higher than that of virgin PET, compared to just €270/t in January. PET processors are also reducing orders given the deteriorating economic environment and growing concerns about demand for soft drink bottles.

The supply of clear r-PET flakes and clear food-grade pellets is abundant, but the supply of colored flakes is shortened.

In July, PET recyclers are expected to see further price increases amid rising costs. However, the planned price may be constrained by an increasingly balanced market.

r-LDPE

Good demand, rising base costs, and further increases in r-LDPE prices in June. Prices for transparent film grades rose by €60/t, while translucent film pellets and black injection-molded pellets rose by €50/t.

Despite reports of shortages of premium grades, material availability is sufficient to meet demand.

In July, base and energy costs pushed up prices further, and the summer shutdown of recycling companies will reduce the supply of recycled materials.

r-HDPE

In June, r-HDPE prices rose by €30-50/t. Due to the widening price gap between virgin and recycled materials, recycling companies can pass the cost on to buyers.

The demand for color blow molding grade r-HDPE pellets is stable, and the demand for black injection molding pellets in the electronic appliances and automotive industries is picking up.

In July, R-HDPE prices are expected to rise along with base material costs.

r-PP

In June, r-PP homopolymer pellet prices fell by €20/t due to lower raw material costs. On the other hand, the price of r-PP copolymer pellets increased by EUR 60/t.

Auto industry demand is finally picking up. Although raw materials were generally in short supply, customer contracts were mostly fulfilled.

In July, r-PP recyclers will try to pass on higher costs, but lower raw material prices may not make r-PP prices higher

r-HIPS

In June, due to strong demand, the price of some native PS was high and the quantity was low, causing the price of r-HIPS to soar by 70 euros / ton. As more customers turn to r-HIPS, soaring sales mean demand far exceeds supply.

As the cost of primary PS continues to rise in July, recyclers will face much less pressure to increase prices.