Waste industry sees signs of recovery
June 19, 2009 at 2:59 pm
The waste industry is apparently back in action, according to the latest survey from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme).
The results of the survey that has recently been carried out suggest that China has revamped its demand for waste from the UK over the last few months, after the disastrous drop in demand that took place over the last year.
The huge drop in demand had devastating repercussions for the UK’s waste industry. Some companies were simply not able to cope and went bust, leaving piles of waste paper and other recyclables stacked high, and leading many to think that it was not worth recycling in the first place if their rubbish was just going to go to landfill.
Thankfully, due to an increase in export demand combined with shortages of materials, the prices have gone up from February to about three times what they were at their lowest level. Some materials such as glass haven’t done so well, but most materials have made at least some improvements.
The survey took into account over 200 waste processing firms in China, and nearly all of them reported growing demand for UK waste. The news prompted the director of WRAP, Marcus Gover, to state that China is “still open for business” for UK waste.
Not all is entirely back to normal, however, as there are still concerns that the end products, such as plastic bottles made from recycled materials, could suffer from lack of demand in the medium-term. However, in the short-term, it’s fair to say that things are looking good for the UK waste industry.
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