We get asked quite regularly why we aren’t more active in recycling plastics. It all boils down to economics. And if the economics don’t match up, you end up with dismal failure. Many people have pushed for mandated percentages of plastics recycling in many areas around the world and some in some places, percentages have been set with deadlines for compliance. What none of the people involved in legislating such mandates have considered is what happens when the price bottoms out? You get lots of collected material sitting around that nobody can ship. Businesses go belly up because they can’t sell their overpriced inventory. There is a lot more consideration to be made than simply our desire to recycle all the materials we can.

If this becomes reality, it would be a definite boon to US recyclers as it provides some additional margin to those shipping scrap overseas. And, as more material begins to flow to China, the supply to domestic mills decreases, allowing the prices to begin to rise. Earlier today, I was asked what gift or wish I would like for Christmas, well, this seems to have risen toward the top.