Recycling Industry to Discuss Effects of Ailing Economy at RWM Event
11 September 2012 - The market downturn, which has resulted in the reduced values of secondary (recycled) waste paper, plastics and metals, is to be a prime talking point at this year’s Resource & Waste Management (RWM) Exhibition, running from 11-13 September.
Industry leaders in the UK are concerned that even the Chinese economy is now showing signs of weakness, which is expected to have a major negative impact on recycled markets and puts particular pressure on the waste paper sector where lower grade mixed material is harder to move.
Scrap metal recycling businesses are also feeling the pinch, with prices down by around £10 per tonne this month. The industry is also concerned about the price of diesel, which “has been creeping up” continuously.
Some analysts believe that increased efforts need to be made to ensure consumers submit their waste material in a cleaner form for recycling and that standards at materials recycling facilities must continue to improve.
Chief Executive of the Recycling Association, Simon Ellin, commented: “It is hard-going at the moment. There are more and more people chasing less and less volume. One of the key things is that the merchants’ customers have gone through a sustained period when they have effectively been spoiled with revenues that they have been receiving.”