Paper and board
April was a strong month for Paper and Board reprocessing with 260,800 PRNs generated. With currently available obligation information, there is an almost 500,000t decrease in recycling obligation for this grade, putting Paper and Board 230,700t over target and in a much more advantageous position for year to date targets which is positive at this stage in the year. However, as mentioned above these figures are subject to change as businesses continue to submit their data returns for 2023.
Glass re-melt and Glass Other
In April, Glass Re-melt had weak production levels with 48,100t reprocessed, missing its monthly target by almost 50,000t. Despite the poor performance, the reduced obligation (-190,700t) placed Glass- Remelt just ahead of its overall target (6,900t).
April was a very poor month for Glass Other (10,500t reprocessed), missing its monthly target by nearly 28,000t. Glass Other also experienced a decrease in overall obligation (-70,600t) however, this was not enough to get Other back on track.
Despite the decrease in total glass obligation of 260,250t which put glass in a slightly stronger position, due to poor performances during the beginning of the year, total glass reprocessing remains behind target by 16,700t.
Glass could be fall further behind target as more businesses submit their producer registration data.
Aluminium
6,650 of Aluminium PRNs were generated in April, missing its monthly target by 5,000t. There was a slight drop off in obligation for Aluminium (-11,500t), this leaves Alu 1,400t ahead of its overall target and in a satisfactory position at this stage in the year however, there is a danger that this grade could fall behind significantly once we see more obligated businesses submit their data for 2023.
Steel
Despite missing its monthly target by 4,250t, April was a strong month for Steel PRN production with 23,300t reprocessed. The reduction in obligation (-33,000t) brings Steel ahead of its year to date target by 17,400t. This leaves Steel in a positive position for the year ahead, but it is important to keep in mind the late producer registrations and how this may impact Steels year to date progress.
Plastic
April was a positive month for Plastic reprocessing with 81,530 PRNs produced. Plastic missed its monthly target by 6,230t; however, with a 145,600t reduction in overall obligation figures this month’s production leaves Plastic 11,500t over its year to date target. These figures are positive to see after last year’s availability issues and high prices, however, the progress Plastic reprocessing is making will need continuous review as more obligated businesses submit their 2023 packaging data.
Wood
There was 19,530t of Wood reprocessed in April, and this was a reasonable performance for this grade. Due to the huge boost Wood received in the quarterly data as well as a reduced obligation (-54,830t), Wood is ahead of its year to date target by 92, 780t. As with all of the grades, although Wood is significantly ahead there is still some potential for Wood to fall behind.
Ed Ewence, Assistant Commercial Director, Clarity Environmental commented:
“Taking these figures at face value, this appears to be very positive data; however, with a large number of producers still to register we’re very much still in an extremely tight market with potential for grades to fall further behind.
April hasn’t been a particularly strong month for UK recycling. We saw an improved performance April performance for Paper, Steel and Plastic but a reduced performance for Glass, Aluminium and Wood compared to April 2022.”
