After climbing high into record territory, the price of natural high-density polyethylene bales dropped over the past month.
The national average price of post-consumer natural HDPE fell 4% this month, breaking its year-and-a-half-long upward march. The price is currently averaging 104.25 cents per pound, compared with 108.44 cents last month, although several regions are reporting prices around 109.00 cents per pound. The price was 62.00 cents one year ago.
Meanwhile, bales of PET beverage bottles and jars have fallen by 11%. Currently at around 22.78 cents per pound, PET bales were 25.56 cents per pound this time last month. Some regions are still trading as high as 26.00 cents per pound. One year ago, PET was trading at 6.17 cents per pound.
Along with natural HDPE, the price of color HDPE is also down. The plastic is now trading at 54.19 cents per pound, compared with 58.13 cents last month. This compares with 14.59 cents this time last year.
Prices have remained relatively flat for several other recovered plastic grades.
The national average price of post-consumer polypropylene is now at 32.69 cents per pound, compared to 33.16 cents last month. It was 5.38 cents one year ago.
The price of Grade A film remained firm, now at 20.63 cents per pound, compared to 20.38 cents last month and 8.38 cents one year ago.
Grade B film is steady at 7.56 cents per pound, unchanged over the last month.
Grade C film is averaging 0.88 cents per pound.
These prices are as reported on the Secondary Materials Pricing (SMP) Index. This pricing represents what is being paid for post-consumer recyclable materials in a sorted, baled format, picked up at most major recycling centers.
For a free trial to SMP’s Online Post-Consumer Pricing Index, visit the Recycling Markets website. You can also contact Christina Boulanger-Bosley at cmb@recyclingmarkets.net or 330-956-8911.
