The Good, the Bad and the Meh: Midsummer Recycling Markets

Chaz Miller • July 22, 2024

Chaz Miller

July 22, 2024


A bit more than halfway through the year, MRF recycling markets are blowing hot, cold, and indifferent. On the hot side are old corrugated containers (OCC), residential mixed paper (RMP), PET bottles, and aluminum cans. Steel cans and colored HDPE bottles are cold. Natural HDPE bottles and polypropylene (PP) packaging are kind of meh. At least prices aren’t as volatile as the summer of 2021 when most recyclables set record highs only to watch them disappear.


Let’s start with the hot markets. PET bottle and aluminum can markets reflect changes in seasonal demand for beverages. Beer, soda pop and bottled water sales are highest between Memorial and Labor Days. In the spring, when purchasing agents start stepping up their orders for these packages, supply is low. The increased demand drives up prices. Similarly, in midsummer, prices start to go down as supply exceeds anticipated post-Labor Day demand.


Currently, the national price for a bale of PET bottles is 17.41 cents per pound, about 50 percent higher than it was at the beginning of the year (note: all MRF bale prices are from RecyclingMarkets.net as of July 19). Aluminum cans are currently just a hair under 76 cents a pound, about a 25 percent increase in value. MRFs are benefitting from strong prices from both packages. Nonetheless, they will go down soon, as they usually do.


National prices remain strong for both OCC and RMP. The average price for old boxes is $107.50 a ton. Those prices started rising at the beginning of 2023. Their value has more than tripled since then. RMP has grown to a current value of $70.63 a ton from a negative value of -$1.50 a ton in November 2022. Prices for both have flattened out. They provide a strong base for MRF revenue.


Recycled paper prices remained strong over the last year in spite of unusual demand and supply realities. Demand for OCC and RMP is up because the paper packaging industry has experienced a rapid increase in its capacity to use recycled paper. All six facilities with new capacity in 2023 and this year are located east of the Mississippi as is a majority of the new capacity since the surge started in 2018. New and existing capacity are competing for supply, driving prices up and looking for paper further away from their mills than normal. At the same time lower paper exports have eased pressure on prices.


Supply of OCC and RMP is not keeping up with demand because inflation lowered unit sales of most consumer products. This leads to fewer boxes needed to transport those products to stores and to be available for recycling. While you and I have more boxes due to increased e-commerce, we don’t have as many as anticipated when the new capacity was being planned. The e-commerce companies are using fewer and smaller boxes to lower their costs. And when we get them, we aren’t as good at recycling them as stores. That supply shortage is keeping prices up.


To further complicate matters, due to unanticipated lower demand for their end product, a number of paper mills took “economic downtime” and temporarily stopped production until sales picked up. This includes some of the new capacity. Worse yet, the McKinley Paper Company mill in Port Angeles, Washington, which opened in 2020, recently announced it is closing. High raw material costs and sluggish demand for its products were blamed. The mill made linerboard and corrugated medium for boxes and other paper packaging.

OCC and RMP markets could stay at their current level for a while. Seasonal holiday box demand will be kicking in soon. When that is over, lower prices are likely.


The cold markets are colored HDPE and steel cans. Colored HDPE resin is primarily used for construction-related products such as water and sewer pipes because the dyes used to color the resin can’t be taken out. A year ago, the price was unusually low at 7.13 cents a pound. Then it steadily rose to 23.94 cents per pound in May before falling to 11.56 cents per pound. Colored HDPE’s price often reflects housing construction trends. New housing permits and construction starts are falling due to high housing costs. Prices will pick up when construction picks up.


Over the past year, steel can prices fell by a quarter to $152.81 per ton. Electric arc furnaces, the predominant steel making technology in the U.S., feast on any type of scrap steel. When Baltimore’s new Key Bridge is built, I hope that some of my steel cans will be in it. For now, however, steel markets are soft due to lack of demand.


That leaves us with the “meh” of natural HDPE (primarily milk jugs) and PP (primarily yogurt containers). Prices are low, but the packages are being recycled. HDPE is commonly used for detergent and shampoo bottles and many other packages. It can be dyed whatever color the package uses. A year ago, the major buyer for recycled natural HDPE stopped buying. Prices collapsed by 237 percent to 22.22 cents a pound. Since then, they have slowly increased. Still, at 37.19 cents per pound it only recently rose above its April 2020 low point. The price will get back to its normally higher levels when consumer brands decide they really want recycled content.


At 6.5 cents per pound, PP (primarily yogurt containers), is the least valuable plastic package in the bin. Its markets are primarily nonpackaging durable plastics. Sales of those products have been flat for some time, so has PP’s low price.



I’ve been tracking recycling markets for some time. Current markets are the most unusual – heck, the weirdest – I’ve seen. Part of that is COVID’s ongoing impact on the economy. Part is the stunning increase in paper recycled content capacity. Part is the ability of e-commerce companies to reduce their need for boxes. Part is the off and on demand for recycled plastic by consumer product companies. Sooner or later, this will all resolve itself. Until then, enjoy the ride.

Share Post

G&A's Sustainability Highlights

By Access Newswire • August 20, 2026
We are more than halfway through 2026, making this a good moment to reflect on what stands out from all the recent change in the sustainability landscape. We review news about sustainability all week, every week, but we also work closely with clients in a range of industries who are dealing with the daily work of environmental protection, social advancement, governance integrity, and - perhaps the most complicated aspect - how to talk about it all. So, while the loudest headlines have been about retreat in regulations, target-setting, hiring, and corporate reporting, there is another truth worth telling: what companies do has not changed much. The stories in this issue of Sustainability Highlights explore the two sides of this contrast. In Forbes, Anjali Chaudhry assembles the numbers behind "greenhushing." EcoVadis found 87% of U.S. companies maintained or increased sustainability investment in 2025 and only 7% cut, while 31% of executives invested more and said less. Forbes investigated whether the silence paid off, and found it was not the safe harbor companies expected: 98% of businesses in a 2026 procurement survey had lost contract opportunities for not sharing sustainability credentials. Standard-setters may have a sense of why this is. In Eco-Business, Global Reporting Initiative chief executive Robin Hodess says GRI has seen no decline in reporting numbers, with four in five of the largest global companies still using GRI Standards. Offering a clue about why reporting has stayed strong this year, she makes a business case for robust disclosures: "I've never met an investor who wants less information." The size and tenor of the comment file received by the SEC over the past few months bears out Hodess' view. As Responsible Investor reports, Vanguard - the world's second-largest asset manager - is the largest investor to oppose scrapping the climate rules, telling the Commission there is value in standardized, comparable disclosure of material risks - climate among them. TIAA and Nuveen argued for a simplified rule rather than none, warning of a "mosaic of state-specific requirements." If sustainability were receding, we wouldn't be hearing about more hours for lawyers. Corporate Disclosures picked up Side by Side , our new research with Ropes & Gray, and led with a finding that surprised us too: 39% of the sustainability professionals surveyed now report into the legal department, against 17% reporting to the CEO. According to 87% of them, and 84% of their legal counterparts, interaction has increased because of regulation. California's climate laws and the CSRD each were named by 75% of our respondents as the most pressing reason for greater collaboration between legal and sustainability teams. Majorities in both groups expected legal's role to grow; not a single respondent expected it to shrink. Capital is moving the same way. ESG Dive reports U.S. sustainable funds drew roughly $3 billion in the second quarter - the first positive quarter since 2022, ending 14 straight quarters of outflows and lifting assets to a record $398 billion. But the developments also show signs of caution: the money went to passive strategies, active funds shed $3.6 billion, and 22 funds closed against three launches. Other timely news delves into AI's role in sustainability matters. Inside Climate News reports on applications increasing oil and gas output, MIT Sloan cites the climate costs and benefits of AI tools, and we found two takes on whether data centers and clean power can share a grid. These stories paint the backdrop for our new issue brief on Responsible AI Due Diligence , which is a guide to the OECD's first guidance for the AI value chain. On circularity, the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is in force this month, including PFAS limits on food-contact packaging. The Northeast Recycling Council has mapped policies on producer stewardship in 11 U.S. states, offering useful context for our resource paper on the EU's PPWR and our EPR support work. Also inside: $20 billion in climate grants unblocked on appeal, and the world's largest carbon removal plant due online by year's end. This is just the introduction of G&A's Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view the full issue. Read on Access Newswire .

Bethlehem First Selectman Provides Update on Disposal of Tires at Transfer Station

By Nancy Dzija Vaughan | Prime Publishers • August 12, 2026
BETHLEHEM – First Selectman Raymond Butkus provided an update to the Board of Selectmen last Tuesday that included an announcement regarding the disposal of tires at the transfer station. Mr. Butkus said the CT Tire Stewardship program has gone into effect, According to the Northeast Recycling Council website, “the Connecticut Tire Stewardship (CTS) is the nonprofit organization responsible for implementing Connecticut’s Tire Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program. Working with municipal transfer stations, tire retailers, auto shops, car dealerships, and other collection partners, CTS helps ensure discarded tires are responsibly collected, recycled, and put to beneficial new uses.” The website goes on to state, “Approximately 3.5 million tires reach the end of their useful life in Connecticut each year. Through its statewide Roll Recycle Renew program, CTS provides residents with free tire recycling opportunities while giving municipalities a practical solution for managing scrap tires. By making responsible disposal more accessible, the program helps reduce illegal dumping, protect waterways and natural resources, and keep tires out of landfills.” Mr. Butkus said town residents will now be able to bring most tires to the town transfer at no cost. Tires will be accepted both on and off the rim. The exception is large tractor tires, tires for construction equipment, or excessively dirty tires. These tires will still ne accepted, however, there will be a fee for disposal. Mr. Butkus also reported that he held a meeting last week regarding the rewiring of the computer equipment at Town Hall. The project is expected to begin this week and will likely be completed by August 20. A new monitor has been located in the hallway of Town Hall. This monitor will be used to display a list of upcoming meetings along with announcements and photographs. Read on Prime Publishers .

NERC releases new policy guide to advance sustainable materials management

By Erin Finan | Recycling Today • August 12, 2026
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) has released its 2026 Northeast States Policy Guide, a new regional resource that provides a comprehensive comparison of sustainable materials management policies across 11 states in the Northeastern U.S. “The guide serves as an excellent primer for state and industry stakeholders looking to learn about the various policy frameworks enacted across the Northeast and how they have been applied,” says NERC President Michael Nork, who also works as an environmental analyst for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Developed through a standardized survey of state government agencies, NERC says the guide serves as a practical reference for policymakers, municipal leaders, industry professionals and researchers looking to navigate and compare policies related to waste reduction, reuse, recycling and circular economy initiatives. The publication includes both regional policy analyses and detailed state profiles covering product bans, product stewardship (including extended producer responsibility), minimum postconsumer recycled content requirements, mandatory recycling laws and disposal bans. “This resource provides high-level insight into materials of interest that the Northeast has focused on managing for decades,” says Shannon McDonald, director at Maryland Department of the Environment in the Waste Diversion Division. “For a regulatory agency, specific resources that provide clear examples of replicable or considerable policy and management strategies are useful tools—having them in one place is even more valuable.” The guide compiles state-level data across Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont to highlight core regional policy trends, including: regional policy prevalence-- Regulatory frameworks are established across the region, with 10 of 11 states using product stewardship programs, 10 enforcing disposal bans and nine maintaining mandatory recycling laws; broadest state coverage -- Maine and Vermont regulate the widest variety of items in the region, 20 and 21, respectively, followed closely by New Jersey at 19 categories; top regulated materials -- Electronics are the most widely addressed material (regulated by 10 states), followed by mercury thermostats (9 states), tires (8 states), as well as paint, rechargeable batteries, beverage containers, fluorescent lighting, lead-acid batteries, mercury-added products and yard waste (7 states); funding and mechanism structures -- Among the region’s product stewardship programs, 47 percent are producer-funded, 15 percent rely on consumer point-of-sale eco-fees, 5 percent combine producer and consumer fees and 33 percent utilize alternative measures such as labeling, recyclability standards or disclosure requirements; and regulatory gaps and emerging opportunities -- Significant policy gaps exist in rapidly growing clean-energy waste streams. Currently, only one state addresses electric vehicle (EV) batteries, and zero states have statewide policy programs for solar panels. Unfilled coverage areas present opportunities for cross-state collaboration, policy alignment and regional innovation. By presenting data in a standardized format for each state, the guide enables stakeholders to easily compare regional policy approaches, identify coverage gaps and adapt regulatory models. “By standardizing how we measure product stewardship, PCR [postconsumer recyclables] mandates and disposal bans across all 11 states, this guide allows state leaders to quickly identify where their policies align with neighbors and where transferable models already exist,” says Mariane Medeiros, director of strategic engagement and sustainability programs at NERC. “With 10 of 11 states enforcing stewardship programs and disposal bans, the region has proven its ability to manage complex products. The next frontier is applying that same collaborative momentum to rapidly growing clean-energy waste streams like solar panels and EV batteries.” Read on Recycling Today.