Final Takeaways from WasteExpo 2018

SEATTLE (Waste 360): WasteExpo 2018’s third day featured the Environmental Research & Education Foundation Auction, events and demos on the show floor, a number of networking opportunities like the International Reception and education sessions on topics like route optimization, commodity predictions, safety, technology, food waste and recycling.

Here are some takeaways from the third day of WasteExpo:

In a session called “Commodity Predictions: What’s Headed Our Way,” Dan Cotter of Cellmark, Jordan Tony of Moore Recycling and Laura Hennemann of Strategic Materials discussed glass, plastics and paper markets, with some of the news on glass more optimistic than what has been said before. The session explored how recyclers might get more “bang for their bucks” from all three material types, which commodities are already feeling the blow of China’s crackdown on imports and what other challenges commodities markets face.

“We expect glass to be relatively unaffected by China’s policy,” said Hennemann. “But material recovery facilities (MRFs) may slow down production of materials [that they were once sending to China], and glass will sit longer, increasing mold and contamination. So, the value will go down,” she said.

On a good note, she said, “We also are seeing more corporations wanting to include glass in their sustainability programs. I think a lot of consumers would be more likely to buy a brand if it had a stamp saying it was made from recycled glass.”

The glass container market is stable or down, while fiberglass, used in insulation, is up,and indications are the fiberglass market will remain strong due to high demand in housing construction, said Hennemann. She anticipates an uptake in highway beads, embedded in roadmarkings to increase night visibility, because of investments in infrastructure.

“But there are still lot of ways we can work together as an industry to bring glass recycling further,” she said, adding there are plenty of challenges to address.

The material is heavy, sharp and tears up equipment. And glass is being removed from programs and being landfilled.

“We are trying to educate MRF’s on how they can get more value from this material,” she said.

Another interesting trend she noted is that a lot of glass is coming into the U.S., especially glass made in Mexico that may have no recycled content. Some is being sent back, but glass recyclers hope for a glass tariff to help address the issue.

There has been an overall reduction in paper volumes, which will likely continue mainly because of the move from paper to digital systems. The only paper showing growth is packaging grade used for shipping, said Cotter.

In 2016, there was a 2.5 million metric ton reduction of paper exported to China. In January, there was a 44 percent drop, and overall we expect a 30 to 35 percent drop in paper exported to China, he told WasteExpo attendees.

“A tremendous amount of cargo has been rejected from China due to the new contamination threshold of 0.5 percent. They won’t take anything from a U.S. mixed MRF, and that’s a significant volume of material,” commented Cotter.

Meanwhile, he said, about 20 percent of commodities collected domestically comes from residential streams, “and we have to figure out new markets around the world.”

India picked up a lot of what China pushed away, and paper recyclers expect more than a million tons will go to that country.

“India paper mills bring this in because they were fighting their local collectors over high prices. But if prices climb, they won’t take it so we still have to deal with what to do on the processing and collection side to produce what the rest of world will take,” said Cotter.

There will be new markets, but finding new homes for paper going to MRFs may require looking at different ways to collect it to get contaminants out. But the simple solution is not to contaminate in the first place; it’s about how to change the system,” he said.

Paper requires a huge investment in machines, and he projects it will take three to five years to develop capacity to produce volumes and quality needed to build a strong market.

On the plastics front, too, there has been a drastic drop in exports due to China’s strict policy, “and there will not be a full recovery because China is enforcing its rules,” said Tony.

“We are already seeing the effects of the ban on rigid containers; some municipalities have taken them off the list of items they accept for recycling. But upgraded MRFs are extracting more value,” he said.

Separating polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and other plastics brings greater returns. But, he said, “We are seeing less plastic used per bottle, and in some cases, manufacturers are moving from bottles to pouches. We saw low scrap prices in 2016, so there is less incentive for recyclers to pull it out.”

“I think we can add some material rather than take it away, like polystyrene, which has a strong market,” said Tony. Densified polystyrene is used to make crown molding and surf boards, and some communities provide grants to MRFs to bale it.

With some recycled plastics, he said, “Some companies like Trex and Seven Generation continue wanting and using it because their customers expect it.”

Courtesy: https://waste360.com