Recycled prices will stay soft. (Recycle Pricing).

* With the economy soft, virgin resin prices falling, and a glut of prime, wide-spec, and scrap on the market, reclaim prices are lower as well. Few recyclers or users of recycled resin expect prices to rebound before the second quarter.

R-PET prices may tumble

Through October, recycled PET prices dropped only 1-2Cents/1b from the year before. But some recyclers fear more precipitous drops may lie ahead. By early November, West Coast market demand was "absolutely tanking," according to one recycler. In the first week of the month, prices there reportedly dropped 40 to 50%. "That's because the Chinese stopped buying." The East Coast market is also soft. Among other factors, automotive use of recycled PET declined along with car and truck sales. Recyclers see even weaker demand and pricing in the next couple of months. Says one, "I don't expect business to start picking up before the second quarter."

R-HDPE poised to drop?

In 2001, natural post-consumer HDPE pellets slipped about 2-3Cents/1b while flake prices remained stable. But mixed colors fell as much as 8Cents/lb. One reprocessor expected to see prices fall farther before the year's end. "There's a lot of wide-spec around," he noted.

Polystyrene plunges

Recycled PS prices plunged in 2001. The smallest drop was 10-11Cents/1b for black HIPS pellets, while other pellets were down 14-16Cents/lb. Recycled flake saw drops of 14 to 23Cents/lb.

"I believe the problems we're having are totally related to the overproduction of virgin resin," says one reprocessor. "There is an awful lot of wide-spec virgin on the market at very low prices. The big question in everybody's mind is how much more PS capacity is coming on early in 2002."

Asian exports have dried up, leaving a glut of scrap on the market. One recycler believes the market has bottomed out, but prices will remain flat through the first quarter.

RECYCLED RESIN PRICES

                       Pellets   Flake
                       cents/lb  cents/lb

PET Bottles (Clean)
Clear Post-Consumer    46-52     36-41
Green Post-Consumer    39-43     31-35

HDPE (Clean)
Natural Post-Consumer  31-34     24-26
Mixed Colors           24-26     15-17

Polystyrene
Post-Consumer
 High Impact
   Black               27-30     18-21
   Natural             27-30     --
 General Purpose
   Black               18-20     5-7
   Natural             28-30     10-12

Polypropylene
Post-Industrial        19-21     15-17
Post-Consumer          21-23     --

Polyethylene Film
Post-Consumer
 Stretch               28        --
 Printed/Mixed         13        --
Post-Industrial
 Printed               20        --
 Not Printed           24        --

PVC
Post-Industrial
 Flexible              32-40     --
 Rigid                 46-66     --