The UK government is examining the potential impact of measures proposed by China regarding the export of recyclables.
The monitoring comes in the wake of tighter controls drafted by China to ensure that recyclables sent there for recycling comply with shipping and control standards.
With reference to the likely restrictions, which will restrict the export of certain types of waste paper, plastics and scrap metals, a government spokesman told letsrecycle.com yesterday (6 September): “We are aware of this situation and are looking into the potential implications.”
Many in the recycling sector are preparing for tighter controls on the export of materials to China
Ministers
Last month the two paper recycling sector associations wrote to secretaries of state in a number of government departments, including Michael Gove at Defra. They voiced concerns to the ministers about plans for restrictions, or bans, on the export of material for recycling to China, which would particularly impact on paper and plastics. (see letsrecycle.com story)
Now the recycling industry – including waste management companies and reprocessors – are closely watching trends in the markets for mixed waste paper and plastics ahead of expected restrictions on exports to China. The metals sector is also on alert as restrictions are set to be imposed on materials such as cables and waste electrical items.
Views in the recycling marketplace expressed to letsrecycle.com this week vary from ‘a solution will emerge’, to ‘there will soon be a crisis’ with concerns seemingly strongest on the plastics side.
Standards
The crackdown on the quality of exports is being imposed by China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection. It closed a consultation on the new rules at the end of August and new standards for exports from Great Britain are expected later this year. But, China has already proposed some new restrictions from this month with the paper and plastics measures likely to come into force at the end of December, (see letsrecycle.com story).
Currently the markets are in a nervous state although there are expectations that prices for some grades of material could actually rise as others fall. Domestic prices for cardboard in China are rising and pulp prices are also on the increase.
So far this month, the indications are that prices for mixed papers on the domestic and export front have reduced slightly, while prices for mixed plastic bottles are also heading south with the value of mixed pots, tubs and trays a negative.
One plastics exporter said: “We are already seeing a glut of film in the market. In particular we think that poorer quality film from construction sites and some retail outlets will be hard to move.”
Shipping
Mid-September could see the final shipments of mixed papers in their current form to China
Others highlight the fact that buyers of paper supplying China could stop placing orders from the middle of September because with loading and shipping times, material might not arrive until after the date when any new rules are in force.
On the waste paper front, the UK exports about 1.1 million tonnes of mixed paper year to China, far more than to any other destination. However, there are markets which may take more material in the short-term at least, including Malaysia and Vietnam. Plus, there is also said to be firm demand from cardboard mills in mainland Europe (mixed paper can be used at up to about a 20% level to make cardboard). However, extra sorting of mixed paper may be needed to improve the quality with the removal of contaminants and contrary materials such as plastics, cans and nappies.
One paper recycler said that the extra sorting could even mean that the mixed paper brought a higher value. This would be because it might be of improved quality if it could be sorted into a newspaper and magazine grade, or cardboard grade. But, somewhere in the chain the additional sorting costs of £10-20 per tonne for MRF material would have to be met as well as any disposal costs incurred. This could impact on the rebates received by local authorities.
Quality is also an issue on the plastics front where it seems more cut and dried over Chinese restrictions coming into force. Three types of material will be affected, and in different ways: Film; Bottles; and Pots, Tubs and Trays (PTT).
Film
Plastics recycling expert Raj Iqbal, a former member of the Advisory Committee Packaging and a working group member said: “There is a crisis on the film market as China is the only market which can take the volume there is. Now the restrictions mean most material can’t be exported and shipping lines also don’t want to accept loads because of concerns about quality.”
Mr Iqbal said that generators of waste film, from the post-commercial and post-consumer side, needed to ensure that the quality improved, including supermarkets, as where other markets could be found, cleaner material was more likely to find a home. But, outlets for many post-consumer contaminated films, such as bags from MRFs, might not find markets, he warned.
Landfilling or energy from waste may be the only outlet for films without markets, added Mr Iqbal.
Jessica Chase, managing director of Chase Plastics, said she felt “that what China has done is what Defra and successive governments should have done already.
“The UK sector has been trying to get the quality improved for years but this has never happened as dirty material was allowed to leave the shores and was also all eligible for PRNs. Retailers have got used to putting anything in the mix and getting hold of decent quality film has become more difficult.”
However, the best quality film for recycling can attract a high price, emphasised Ms Chase.
“Overall,” she said, “China’s crackdown on quality can only be good for UK reprocessors of films and for the environment. The waste management sector needs to enlighten its customers that we do not want PET, strappings, food contamination and mixed polymers within film.”
Bottles
Stresses in the plastics market are around the likely ban on the export of mixed bottles to China with a need to sort the material.
Recycling plants exist for PET, HDPE milk and HDPE jazz bottles in the UK although operators have emphasised to letsrecycle.com that there is a need for quality and sorting.
There is no immediate crisis however in the bottle market, one recycler said, although the picture could change quickly. He added that there was UK demand although another reprocessor said that going forward, more shredding of bottles in the UK would be essential, which would mean the granules could be used on the domestic market or exported.
The need to sort plastics is set to become more important
The value of mixed bottles is expected to reduce in order to meet the extra sorting and processing costs and as with mixed paper, local authority rebates could be hit.
Pots, Tubs and Trays
The value of Pots, Tubs and Trays (PTT) is expected to reduce further for a grade which generally has a negative value and is starting to become a cost burden for local authorities, according to some in the sector. Gate fees are already in place and these are expected to increase.
PRN
One support mechanism which could start come into play more in the plastics recycling sector is the PRN which is issued by plastics reprocessors. This is currently worth about £68-74 a tonne and could rise in the wake of the difficulties in the plastics market.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
