MY GREEN BLOG

I was not aware of the mass economy associated with recycling but as I read an article from the Associated Press yesterday it began to make sense. Basically the price for recycled items has dropped almost 92% for some materials. For instance a ton of cardboard in September of this year was going for $135…. Today it’s selling for just $35. Plastic bottles have fallen from 25 cents/pound to 2 cents/pound.

All of this is affecting quite a few municipalities across the country and the industries, like shipping, associated with them. For instance, the City of Seattle is considering having to pay companies to take materials that just last year earned the city millions in revenue.

So what is happening and why so fast??? Industries associated with these materials are seeing huge drops in their sales causing them to cut back production, thus their need for these materials have dropped. Since the demand is so low… something’s got to give, and the prices dropped. Now contracts drawn up in the height of the market are obsolete and can’t be met.

Things are getting bad enough in some areas that recycling companies are limiting the materials they are willing to take. Thankfully we seem to be OK here in Seattle and some recyclers are discussing buying warehouse space to store items till the market returns, which folks are hoping it does by the spring. If not we all may need start storing this stuff in our garages as well. If this does happen expect options to be out there other than sending it to the dump. I’ll keep my eye on this so if this does happen near you hopefully we can find your recycling answer.

Till Next Time,

Jeff