As the threat from wildfires in Southern California subsides thanks to heavy rains in the region, market participants said that so far the effect on RPET market has been minimal, though workers’ lives were disrupted.
The rPlanet Earth facility in Vernon, about 20 miles southwest of the Eaton fire, was unaffected. However, several of the reclaimer’s team members living closer to the blaze experienced several days without electricity and poor air quality, said Ivan Liang, vice president of supply chain and commodities.
“Some reclaimers have had their power cut, and it has had an effect on production,” said Sally Houghton, executive director of the Plastic Recycling Corporation of California.
Houghton added that utility companies often will cut off power supply amid strong winds to avoid new fires. PRCC purchases PET bottles for resale to reclaimers in the U.S. and globally.
The fires decreased the amount of available post-consumer material in the California market, with power outages preventing plants from baling post-consumer PET, and modified or postponed collection routes, said James Derrico, vice president of new business at distributor CellMark.
Heavy smoke can prevent or reroute traffic, and now flooding and mudflows have interfered with some roads as well.
However, the disruptions haven’t caused any significant change in the California RPET market, Derrico added.
Although it will take time to recover in the areas affected, “neither of the areas are industrial and they will not impact recycling operations in any significant manner,” Houghton said.
The persistent threat of power outages during the nearly three weeks of fires made operations uncertain, said Paul Bahou, president at reclaimer Global Plastics Recycling in Perris, about 65 miles southeast of the Eaton fire.
The market effects likely would have been more pronounced had the fires occurred during a busier time of year. RPET markets tend to pick up starting in March, ahead of the peak summer beverage bottling season.
Although weather is a key factor for recycling markets in most areas, as it can impede collection and discourage people from attending events where they consume beverages bottled in PET. But in California it also can damage produce harvests and subsequently dampen demand for PET thermoforms.
