Also in 2015, U.S. exporters shipped more than 2 million tons of plastic scrap, valued at $810 million. New York, Between 2004 and 2014, the global production of plastics grew from 225 million tons to 311 million tons, an increase of 38%. In recent months, the price of recycled plastic flakes, used to make goods from soft drink bottles to glitter, has become more expensive than virgin plastic for the first time. "Plastics News," a trade magazine, lists the recent price of PET virgin bottle resin pellets between 83 and 85 cents a pound, compared to only 58 to 66 cents a pound for PET recycled pellets. “That’s what we need,” he remarked. Thank you for signing up to Live Science. Finally, the strands are cooled in water and chopped into pellets that can go to market. In general, the cost of plastic recycling plant mainly includes the machine prices , transportation costs, raw material costs, installation costs and other costs… ), Whodunit solved when 'sword' is found embedded in thresher shark, Roman-era Egyptian child mummy scanned with laser-like precision, Wide-eyed prehistoric shark hid its sharpest teeth in nightmare jaws, SARS-CoV-2 relative found lurking in frozen bats from Cambodia, Crested rats can kill with their poisonous fur. But the selling price of these recycled bags is twice the cost. A University of California, Berkeley study estimated that areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco could gain an economic benefit of $200 a ton for recycling instead of dumping. All that extra plastic, and the petroleum used to make it, is expensive. NY 10036. In 1967, Mr. McGuire had one piece of career advice for young Benjamin Braddock — plastics. In fact, fees can run from $10 a ton to over $100, according to Jerry Powell, editor of the trade publication "Plastics Recycling Update." Ostensibly this is the cheaper option. Additionally, dumping wastes a valuable commodity: In 2005, about half a billion dollars worth of PET bottles went to landfills, according to the Container Recycling Institute, a non-profit organization. A report from S&P Global Platts, a commodity market specialist, revealed that recycled plastic now costs an extra $72 (£57) a tonne compared with newly made plastic. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, We're also on Facebook & Google+. The UK is planning to tax companies which don’t use at least 30% recycled plastic in their products, but until then it may be cheaper for companies to demand more new plastic to make their packaging. This answer is provided by Scienceline, a project of New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. In 2005, seven and a half billion gallons of water flooded U.S. shelves – roughly equivalent to the average amount of water that flows over Niagara Falls in three hours. Using less resin per bottle could translate to a savings on raw materials of about $1.5 billion a year for the bottling industry. © According to EPA reports, 2.1 million tons of plastic waste was recycled in 2008. For years the cost of making plastic products from recycled flakes was cheaper than relying on virgin plastics made using fossil fuels, meaning the sustainable option was an economic option too. The increase is a result of the surging demand for bottled water. This could mean incentives for new recycling plants, improving recycling facilities at a local council level, or importing recycled plastic flakes from Latin America. Over time, plastic breaks down into tiny particles called microplastics, which are found on shorelines around the world. Rising plastic prices have forced some companies that bottle their product, like Coca-Cola, to think twice about using expensive virgin plastic resin. Ocean plastic and plastic shopping bags still present major global challenges. Plastics News, a trade magazine, lists the recent priceof PET virgin bottle resin pellets between 83 and 85 cents a pound, compared to only 58 to 66 cents a pound for PET recycled pellets. The battle to reduce Europe’s plastic waste could become a quarter of a billion dollars more expensive every year as the cost of recycled plastic soars. Each year, 29 billion plastic water bottles are produced for use in the United States, according to the Earth Policy Institute, an environmental organization in Washington, D.C. Manufacturing them requires the equivalent of 17 million barrels of crude oil, so rising oil and natural gas prices have only exacerbated the high price of virgin plastic. It costs approximately $4,000 to recycle one ton of plastic bags. By First it goes to a collection facility to be inspected for contaminants like rock or glass. Businesses that want to have a positive environmental impact should stay informed on the global impact of plastic waste and the state of plastic recycling. According to the analysts this trend is driven in part by the growing demand to include recycled plastics in new products. More than 1,600 business organizations in the U.S. are involved in recycling post-consumer plastic items. The amount of PET plastic on U.S. shelves has more than doubled in the last decade, according to the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR). Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Meanwhile, new plastic is becoming cheaper to make due to a flood of petrochemicals production from the US driven by the shale gas boom. Importing recycled plastic from Latin America could help meet European demand. Coca-Cola sources only. It costs approximately $4,000 to recycle one ton of plastic bags. Each year, about $25 million is spent in the state of California to dispose of plastic waste in landfills. In the 40 years since “The Graduate,” plastic has exploded in applications, from car bumpers to computers, and it has been classified into seven types, including PET #1, the type used for plastic water and soda bottles.

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