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You Can't Win The War On Plastic When Recycled Flake Costs More Than Virgin Plastic

by Rudy Sanchez on 10/15/2019 | 1 Minute Read

As demand for recycled plastic, fueled in large part by consumer demand for more eco-conscious products, has grown, so has the price, to the point where virgin plastic is now cheaper than recycled flake, according to analysts.

As reported by The Guardian, analysts at S&P Global Platts, commodity market specialists, found that recycled plastic now costs $72 more per ton than virgin plastic.

Analysts cite several reasons for this price gap, including increased demand for recycled material, and new plastic being cheaper to produce thanks to increased petrochemical production fueled by the US shale gas boom.

Although the price of virgin plastic has gone down thanks to shale gas, that price does not factor in the cost of shale gas extraction, or fracking, a controversial process which carries the risk of polluting the groundwater in surrounding areas.

Countries like Norway have a collection and recycling program that includes everyone that touches material.

They have incentivized the industry to stimulate the use of recycled material, resulting in 97% of all plastic bottles getting recycled. The UK government is also working on an ambitious tax plan designed to reward more use of recycled plastic with taxes levied on the packaging with less than 30% recycled content.