Sustainable Plastics

1 week ago | sustainableplastics.com | Jim Johnson

Origin Materials Inc. is making history with the development of the first PET bottle cap for popular beverage containers, including those used for carbonated drinks. But the California-based company is not stopping there. The creation of PET caps to pair with PET bottles has been a long-time goal sought by the packaging industry to help simplify recycling. These days, the standard is using high density polyethylene or polypropylene caps with PET bottles.

1 week ago | sustainableplastics.com | Karen Laird

A new report on the state of play in the HDPE & PP rigids market in Europe analysing the  production, collection, and recycling of HDPE and PP rigids in 2023 paints a picture of a troubled industry. If the targets set down in the PPWR are to be met, considerable growth and investment in production capacity and recyclate quality are needed. However, this will not happen if the major challenges currently facing the industry fail to be addressed.

1 week ago | sustainableplastics.com | David Platt

The latest pricing charts can be accessed here.   Recyclers attempted to raise prices in June to cover the rising cost of scrap materials, but competition from low-cost imports, lower prices for virgin material and buyer resistance contrived to exert downward price pressure on most recycled plastic types.  There has been no significant improvement in demand for most recycles plastics types, although R-PET demand is approaching normal levels as the peak summer beverage season approaches.

1 week ago | sustainableplastics.com | David Platt

Polyolefin and PVC prices have softened slightly at the beginning of June following a rollover for the ethylene and propylene costs while polystyrene prices have fallen in line with the cost of styrene monomer. The latest pricing charts can be accessed here. L/LDPE L/LDPE prices fell within the €60-70/tonne range in May, which was a similar level to the  €70/tonne reduction for the ethylene contract price.

1 week ago | sustainableplastics.com | David Platt

The latest pricing charts can be accessed here.  Standard thermoplastics prices remained under sharp downward pressure in May following a fall in feedstock costs due to lower crude oil and naphtha prices and ongoing demand weakness. Polyolefin and PVC prices have softened slightly at the beginning of June following a rollover for the ethylene and propylene costs while polystyrene prices have fallen in line with the cost of styrene monomer.