Recyclable refuse piles up as prices collapse
The global economic slowdown has trashed the market for recycled materials. Prices have fallen almost to nothing, and recyclable refuse is accumulating in storage because no one wants to buy it.
Thousands of tonnes of rubbish collected from household recycling bins may have to be stored in warehouses and former military bases to save them from being dumped after a collapse in prices.
Collection companies and councils are running out of space to store paper, plastic bottles and steel cans because prices are so low that the materials cannot be shifted. Collections of mixed plastics, mixed paper and steel reached record levels in the summer but the “bottom fell out of the market” and they are now worthless. The plunge in prices was caused by a sudden fall in demand for recycled materials, especially from China, as manufacturers reduced their output in line with the global economc [sic] downturn.
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The speed at which prices collapsed has taken the recycling industry and local authorities by surprise and has been made worse because recycling rates are at record levels.
The glut of garbage has made recycling a victim of its own success.
[...] Luxury Steve Eminton, of letsrecycle.com, said: “Warehouses around Britain could start to be filled with waste paper, metal and plastic bottles. There’s nowhere for these materials to go at the moment. It’s rapidly becoming a very serious problem.” the times via nova scotia scott [...]