RECYCLING MARKETS

Prices for collected recyclable materials will vary depending on a variety of factors including

• the quantity of the material,
• the amount of processing needed to obtain commodity quality,
• the state of the economy, i.e., the need for that commodity,
• the distance from the end processor the material must travel,
• and reliability of the volume collected.

For example, if a large volume of corrugated containers can be collected on a monthly basis near a paper plant that can use the corrugated to make new boxes, it is likely the price for the collected corrugated containers will be relatively high.  A small amount of corrugated containers being collected hundreds of miles from a plant will unlikely be as valuable and will cost more to transport.  The same scenario can be applied to any recycled material whether it is glass , metal, paper, plastic or any other collected recyclable.  And, for some materials, the recyclable has negative value due to the amount of handling and processing necessary or the components that must be managed as hazardous waste.  Because of these and other variables, it is very difficult to provide specific prices that you could expect for selling collected materials.

MRC CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:

• Recycling Steel in a Global Market - Dave Keeling, 2011 Conference
• 2010 Market Recovery - Rick Post, 2010 Conference
• Recycling Glass into Concrete - Roz-Ud-Din Nassar, 2010 Conference
  Roz-Ud-Din Nassar
• Yes! Cartons are Recyclable - David Stead, 2010 Conference

OTHER RESOURCES

Scrap Theft Alert.com is a resource the scrap industry can use to alert law enforcement of significant scrap theft in the U.S. and Canada.