Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : What Is Going Wrong in UK Plastics Recycling?

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

What Is Going Wrong in UK Plastics Recycling?


Biffa shut its Sunderland plant.

Viridor walked away from Avonmouth and Rochester.

Yes Recycling Fife collapsed within a year.



All three were backed by major investments

All three had buyers lined up for recyclate

All three are now offline


This is not bad luck

It is bad structure


Over the next four posts I will break down:

1. Why cheap virgin imports are undercutting UK recyclers

2. How weak policy enforcement is fuelling market failure

3. What volatile PRNs and cheap exports are doing to infrastructure

4. Why demand from brands is softer than their promises


Let’s start with the first:


**Cheap Virgin Resin = Broken Economics**

Virgin PE, PP, and PET have been flooding the global market.

New capacity in Asia and the US has driven prices down 30 to 40 percent.

Meanwhile, recycled plastic costs more to produce in the UK than it can sell for.


We are asking UK recyclers to compete with materials made in places with

– lower power costs

– fewer labour protections

– zero environmental standards


The result? You lose money on every tonne.

You shut down. You leave the market.


source: Stuart McCaig

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