Nonmetallics Department

PVC DEMAND TO EXCEED 14 BILLION POUNDS BY 2000

Polyvinyl chloride demand in North America is expected to grow 3.6 percent annually to more than 14 billion pounds by the year 2000, according to the Freedonia Group Inc., Cleveland. Advances will reflect rebounding construction activity in the nonresidential building sector and substitution for wood, metal and other materials in residential applications such as piping, siding and windows.

However, PVC growth may slow after that due to new generations of elastomers currently being developed that are expected to enter the market, particularly for use in disposable medical goods and packaging applications. PVC producers are attempting to meet the challenge by developing new generations of PVC, as well.

ARBITRATION DRAGS OVER CALIFORNIA PLASTIC PLANT

After shutting down in October 1996, wTe Corp.’s Certified Polymer Processors’ PET Bottle Recycling Facility in Hayward, Calif., is no closer to reopening. The plant closed due to a lack of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) supply from the Plastics Recycling Corporation of California – a non-profit consortium of major bottling companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and Seven-Up/RC Bottling Co. PRCC was formed to provide a sustainable market for PET under California’s current redemption law, and to provide the bottlers with a steady supply of post-consumer regrind to meet the requirements of California’s recycled-content law (which has since been overturned).

Under the redemption law, the state determines the cost to recycle a pound of PET. Currently, that rate is at $770 a ton or 38.5 cents a pound. The state-mandated rate was derived to sustain plastic recycling operations. The rate, however, is consistently higher than the true market value of the commodity, which is currently about 9 cents a pound.

If PRCC did not exist, processors would receive 9 cents a pound for their material, and the bottling companies would be obligated to refund the processors – through the state – the difference between the set price and the market price. So, instead of paying the difference through the state, the bottling companies stepped in, formed PRCC, and decided to pay the set price directly to the processors.

But the downside is that PRCC now controls 100 percent of the post-consumer PET supply in the state, according to Leigh Alan Peritz, vice president of wTe’s plastics division. "It’s a monopoly and they control the entire supply."

According to Leigh, PRCC and wTe signed a long-term contract at the end of 1994 before PET prices skyrocketed toward the beginning of 1995. When that happened, PRCC began diverting material away from the Hayward plant, reselling the PET in order to get the higher prices. "They jumped at the higher prices, and now those prices are back to where they were before," says Peritz.

The Hayward plant relied on an 11-year, 30-million pound per year PET supply from PRCC. The plant, which cost $3.5 million to build, employed the MSS BottleSort System from Magnetic Separation Systems, Nashville, Tenn.

Now, both wTe and PRCC are in arbitration. "The arbitration process is going painstakingly slow," says Peritz. "California is a huge market, and we want to be players. Our Albany, N.Y., PET plant is currently sold out and the market is beginning to trend back upward."

PRCC officials would not comment on the situation.

LAIDLAW, ALW AGREE TO TIRE SHRED CONTRACT

Alberta Waste resources and Energy Corp., Calgary, Alberta, has entered into a contract with Laidlaw Waste Systems to supply the Laidlaw Municipal Solid Waste landfill at Ryley, Alberta, with up to 5,000 metric tons of tire shred to be used in the construction of the leachate collection system in the new waste entombment cell being developed at the landfill. The project will require about 500,000 scrap tires overall.

The project qualifies for $675,000 of incentive payments from Canada’s Tire Recycling Management Board.

ALW is now operating a second tire shredder and has established another recycling facility in the Edmonton area to meet capacity demands.

BOXBOARD MILL TO USE MORE MIXED PAPER DUE TO LOAN

The Los Angeles Paper Box & Board Mills, City of Commerce, Calif., recently received a $750,000 loan from the California Integrated Waste Management Board, Sacramento, Calif. The company, which makes boxboard for use in folding cartons and rigid boxes, plans to use the loan to add a continuous pulper and cleaning screens to its operation. The upgrade will allow the mill to use an additional 5,000 tons per year of mixed waste paper.

L.A. Paper Box is situated in one of 40 designated Recycling Market Development Zones throughout the state, and qualifies for special funding and tax breaks. The RMDZ loan program receives an annual allocation of $5 million.

KANSAS AWARDS FIRST-EVER TIRE RECYCLING GRANT

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka, Kan., has awarded the state’s first-ever scrap tire market stimulation grant to help a Kansas firm expand to meet demand for rubber mats made from recycled tires. The $400,000 grant was awarded to Mid-Continent Resource Recovery Inc., Wichita, Kan. The money will be used to supplement private investments to automate the company’s processing and recycling facility.

The firm uses scrap rubber from tires to make rubber mats called Quick Bricks. The flat mats are textured to look like bricks, and come in a variety of colors and sizes. They can be used for patio and pool deck covers, as welcome mats, anti-fatigue mats or trade show flooring.

The grant is funded by a 50-cent-per-tire excise tax on each new tire sold in Kansas. The excise tax generates about $1.2 million annually.

SHIPMENTS OF CORRUGATED, PAPERBOARD BOXES TO GO UP

Shipments of corrugated and paperboard boxes in the United States are forecast to expand 3.5 percent annually through the year 2000 to 37 million tons, according to The Freedonia Group, Cleveland. Despite competition in traditional paperboard markets, the box industry will maintain steady growth through technological advances and further penetration of nontraditional markets.

The use of recycled paperboard in boxes will continue to expand at the expense of semichemical and bleached board grades as consumers’ interest in recoverable and renewable packaging increases.

FAIR SKIES AHEAD FOR HDPE, SAYS RECYCLER

The market for high density polyethylene looks fairly stable, with prices moving upward, according to Alan Logan of Ensley Corp., North Canton, Ohio. "If we were comparing HDPE prices to the weather, it would appear that the storm clouds of a falling market have dissipated and another high pressure system is approaching," he says. "We are forecasting fair skies for prices in this area – virgin prices seem to be stable or moving upward."

EUROPEAN LAWS SPUR OCC DEMAND

Increased legal demands for recovery of transportation packaging in Europe could impact demand for corrugated containers by as much as 10 percent over the next five years, according to a newly-expanded report from Raymond Communications Inc., Riverdale, Md. Titled "Transportation Packaging & The Environment 1997", the report covers regulations, trends and case histories from the U.S., Canada and Europe.

The report finds that in addition to Germany, which has the most stringent law, 13 European countries now require some type of recovery of transportation packaging. One result is increased use of returnable crates and the need for standardized crates in crate pools. These programs are saving many companies considerable amounts of money, according to the report.

Copies of the report are available by calling (301) 345-4237, or accessing http://www.raymond.com/recycle.

VINYL RECYCLING TRENDS UPWARD

Vinyl recycling continues to increase, according to the American Plastics Council, Washington. In 1995, more than 9.5 million pounds of post-consumer vinyl were recycled, compared to only 6.5 million pounds in 1994.