RECYCLING IN NC - Apwa-Nc Chapternorthcarolina.apwa.net/Content/Chapters/northcarolina...Recycling Market Update •Some major factors influencing the value of your recyclables: •Low

RECYCLING IN NC:MARKET UPDATE,UNDERSTANDING SINGLE STREAM VALUATIONS, &MAKING THE BEST OF THINGS

NC APWA Solid Waste Division, August 12, 2016

Rob Taylor, NC Department of Environmental Quality

Overview•Recycling Things on Everybody’s Minds

•Market Update

•The Value of a Commingled Ton

•Quality

•Making the Best of Things

•Discussion

Recycling: Some Things On Everybody’s Mind

•Recycling Markets / Material Values

•Processing Costs

•Glass

•Contamination

•Electronics (whoops, wrong presentation)

Recycling Market Update• Some major factors influencing the value of your recyclables:

• Low cost of oil

• High value of US dollar relative to other currencies

• Decreased demand for US recyclables in China

• The relatively low value of recyclable commodities over the past year has exacerbated problems with glass (more later).

Fiber / Paper Prices (per ton) Since 2008

Aluminum, PET and HDPE Prices (per .lb) since 2008

What about Glass?• Yes: Glass is causing trouble for recycling at this time

• Yes: Citizens want to recycle glass

• Yes: ABC On-Premises permit holders in NC are required to recycle glass beverage containers

• And, glass is a substantial proportion of recycling tonnage (more later)

• Remember, if glass isn’t recycled then it’s thrown away.• “Away” = MSW Landfill in your municipal garbage trucks

• Questions:• Does garbage collection have a cost?

• Does your community pay tipping fees for disposal (either directly or indirectly)?

Glass: Believe It Or Not…• Glass is readily recyclable and there’s plenty of demand for recycled glass cullet

• NC has good access to glass processing• Strategic Materials, or SMI, has a beneficiation plant in Wilson, NC

• SMI turns mixed glass into “cullet” that is furnace-ready

• Challenges with glass recycling:• Hard on equipment

• Low value relative to other recyclables

• Glass from MRFs often contains A LOT of

material besides glass

• SMI pays for glass, but not for transportation or

the other materials mixed with glass

Strategic Materials, Wilson

From this:

To this:

Users of Reclaimed Cullet in NC area

• Ardagh• Henderson, NC

• Wilson, NC

• Owens-Illinois• Danville, VA

• Winston-Salem, NC

• Potters Industries• Apex, NC

Despite the Current Challenges…

• Growing understanding of mutual dependency between public recycling programs, recycling processors, and end-users of recovered materials

• And, the move towards Single Stream continues

• Why? Because it:• Reduces recycling collection cost

• Increases recycling program efficiency and effectiveness

• Increases amount of materials recycled and makes citizens happy

-

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

FY 2004-05

FY 2005-06

FY 2006-07

FY 2007-08

FY 2008-09

FY 2009-10

FY 2010-11

FY 2011-12

FY 2012-13

FY 2013-14

FY 2014-15

Annual Recycling Tons Reported as “Commingled” by NC Local Governments

NC MRFs

NC MRFs

Single Stream Recycling: What’s In The Bin?

Material 2015

Glass 27.4%

PET 4.8%

HDPE 3.4%

3-7 Plastics 0.6%

Rigid Plastics 0.5%

Aluminum 1.2%

Steel 2.5%

Containers SubT: 40.3%

Newspaper 20.8%

OCC 17.6%

Magazines n/a

Mixed Paper 21.3%

Fiber SubT: 59.7%

• Material mix varies by region and community• Socio-economics of community population

• Local decisions about what materials will be accepted by public recycling programs

• Access to markets for specific materials

• Material mix varies within any given year (seasonally, yearly, and even weekly)• Seasonal nature of consumption

• Composition of mix depends on effectiveness of outreach efforts• Getting the message about the “right”

materials and the “wrong” materials

Understanding Commingled Pricing• More important than ever because of recent markets

• Lots of moving parts contribute to the final value

• Price of a commingled ton is a composite based on the value of individual commodities and their percent of the mix (the “commingled ton”)

• Remember: sorting and baling isn’t free and MRFs are for-profit operations

• Both quantity and quality of material delivered to a MRF matters

Materials, from the MRF Perspective

Value of material to a MRF is influenced by:• An individual material’s current commodity price• How much of any material is in the commingled mix• The MRF’s contracts / relationships with markets for materials• The effectiveness of the MRF system for recovering that material

Not all MRFS are created equal:• Efficiency and economy of scale impact relative cost of processing

Material Value ($/Ton), May Pricing in NC

Higher Lower

Al HDPE PET Steel OCC ONP OMP Glass

Material % of 1 MRF ton Price/ton* Value

Fiber Materials

ONP 20.8% $ 68.30 $ 14.21

Mixed Paper 21.3% $ 50.00 $ 10.65

OCC 17.6% $ 96.33 $ 16.95

Fiber Sub-total 59.7% $ 41.81

Container Materials

Glass 27.4% $ (6.67) $ (1.83)

Aluminum Cans 1.2% $ 1,100.00 $ 12.76

Steel Cans 2.5% $ 43.00 $ 1.08

PET 4.8% $ 150.00 $ 7.20

HDPE (colored prices) 3.4% $ 400.00 $ 13.60

Mixed Plastics 0.8% $ 30.00 $ 0.24

Cartons/aseptics 0.2% $ 50.00 $ 0.10

Container Sub-total 40.3% $ 33.15

TOTAL $ 74.96

MRF Operating Costs $ 70.00

Residue Costs $ 7.20

Net Cost/Revenue $ (2.24)

How to determine

the value of a

commingled ton


Fiber Materials

ONP 20.8% $ 68.30 $ 14.21

Mixed Paper 21.3% $ 50.00 $ 10.65

OCC 17.6% $ 96.33 $ 16.95


Container Materials

Glass 27.4% $ (6.67) $ (1.83)

Aluminum Cans 1.2% $ 1,100.00 $ 12.76

Steel Cans 2.5% $ 43.00 $ 1.08

PET 4.8% $ 150.00 $ 7.20


Mixed Plastics 0.8% $ 30.00 $ 0.24



TOTAL $ 74.96




Start with the materials in

the mix


Fiber Materials

ONP 20.8% $ 68.30 $ 14.21

Mixed Paper 21.3% $ 50.00 $ 10.65

OCC 17.6% $ 96.33 $ 16.95


Container Materials

Glass 27.4% $ (6.67) $ (1.83)

Aluminum Cans 1.2% $ 1,100.00 $ 12.76

Steel Cans 2.5% $ 43.00 $ 1.08

PET 4.8% $ 150.00 $ 7.20


Mixed Plastics 0.8% $ 30.00 $ 0.24



TOTAL $ 74.96




Add in the value of the

commodities

*winter 2015/16 prices shown for illustration


Fiber Materials

ONP 20.8% $ 68.30 $ 14.21

Mixed Paper 21.3% $ 50.00 $ 10.65

OCC 17.6% $ 96.33 $ 16.95


Container Materials

Glass 27.4% $ (6.67) $ (1.83)

Aluminum Cans 1.2% $ 1,100.00 $ 12.76

Steel Cans 2.5% $ 43.00 $ 1.08

PET 4.8% $ 150.00 $ 7.20


Mixed Plastics 0.8% $ 30.00 $ 0.24



TOTAL $ 74.96




Gross Value

Add things up to determine the Gross Value of

the Ton


Fiber Materials

ONP 20.8% $ 68.30 $ 14.21

Mixed Paper 21.3% $ 50.00 $ 10.65

OCC 17.6% $ 96.33 $ 16.95


Container Materials

Glass 27.4% $ (6.67) $ (1.83)

Aluminum Cans 1.2% $ 1,100.00 $ 12.76

Steel Cans 2.5% $ 43.00 $ 1.08

PET 4.8% $ 150.00 $ 7.20


Mixed Plastics 0.8% $ 30.00 $ 0.24



TOTAL $ 74.96




ProcessingCost

Remember the MRF has costs:

-Maintenance-Overhead

-Capital Outlay


Fiber Materials

ONP 20.8% $ 68.30 $ 14.21

Mixed Paper 21.3% $ 50.00 $ 10.65

OCC 17.6% $ 96.33 $ 16.95


Container Materials

Glass 27.4% $ (6.67) $ (1.83)

Aluminum Cans 1.2% $ 1,100.00 $ 12.76

Steel Cans 2.5% $ 43.00 $ 1.08

PET 4.8% $ 150.00 $ 7.20


Mixed Plastics 0.8% $ 30.00 $ 0.24



TOTAL $ 74.96




Amount available for MRF profit and paying revenue to community

Do the Math and you’ll see

why MRFs have been charging for processing

Value of a Commingled Ton Over Time

$-

$20.00

$40.00

$60.00

$80.00

$100.00

$120.00

$140.00

$160.00

$180.00

$200.00

Gross Value of Single Stream TonWith Glass, Not Including Residue Costs

Value of a Commingled Ton Over Time

$-

$20.00

$40.00

$60.00

$80.00

$100.00

$120.00

$140.00

$160.00

$180.00

$200.00

Gross Value of Single Stream TonWith Glass, Not Including Residue Costs

The Good News:

Lessons From The Last Year Or So:• Quality matters

• Communication matters

• Contracts matter & deals should reflect mutual dependence and mutual needs

MRF• Profitability• Material Quality• Low residue cost• Committed

material stream

Local Govt• Consistent access to

processing services• Predictable costs &

possible revenue• Info about acceptable

materials• Protection from

unexpected costs

The Impact of Residue on Value of The Ton

Gross Value of One Incoming Commingled Ton

Description Value

Average North Carolina Single Stream Ton without Residue $82.16

Average North Carolina Single Stream Ton with 10% Residue

$67.45

Average North Carolina Single Stream Ton with 15% Residue

$60.09

Assumptions:• Spring 2016 pricing• Full cost of residue = $65/Ton

What’s A Community To Do?• Focus on Efficiency

• Recycling: More and Better• More:

• Offer recycling service where you can: multifamily, small businesses, away-from-home

• Use outreach BMPs to make citizens award of all the materials they can recycle

• Better:• Focus on Quality

• No shredded paper, no plastic bags, no trash, no tanglers

• If moving to single stream (especially drop-off systems), do the math on collecting glass separate

• Keep the end goal in mind: provide effective public recycling service

Questions / Discussion

Thank You

Rob Taylor

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service

Phone: 919-707-8139

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.recyclenc.org

Away-from-home recycling

APWA 2016Dave Bundick

Superintendent of Solid Waste

City of Wilmington, NC

Before

Grant as catalyst

• 2013 Community Waste Reduction

and Recycling grant

• $30K with 20% local match

• Away-from-home recycling focus

area

Cart garages

• Permanent

• Presence

• Pleasing

Facility Focus

• High Visitation– 21,600 people at amphitheater

– 55,000 people at the golf course

– 25,000 people at the nature park

– 11,000 people at tennis complex

– 950,000 people at the stadium per year

• Parks and Recreation staff knowledge of material

disposal

• Management and collection

Cart garage - function

Legion Stadium

Hugh Morton Amphitheater at

Greenfield Lake

Althea Gibson Tennis area at

Empie Park

Municipal Golf Course

Halyburton Park

Introduce to the

community

Engage the

community

Twin the bins

Data Collection

• Parks and Public Spaces absorbed into

residential collection

• Isolated collection found 1,450lbs in May 2014

• If representative, 17,400 lbs per year

• Fluctuate dependent on events

• Materials found: Plastic bottles, aluminum cans,

glass bottles and cardboard

Next steps

Opportunities

• Increase recycling

expansion efforts

– Parks, Downtown

• Continue to engage the

community

Challenges

• Data collection

• Managing contaminants

Event Recycling Guide

Advertising Focus

Historic Downtown Recycling

• There are currently nineteen recycling receptacles

in Wilmington’s Historic Downtown, a 23 block

area that includes River Front Park.

2014 Community Waste Reduction

and Recycling Grant Program

• $25,000 grant with a $5,000 match to purchase

19 Victor Stanley Recycling Containers.

• 19 Containers total $26,455: $1,393 each

– Installation cost $3,545: $187 each

• Approval need from the Wilmington Historic

District Board

• Project took six months to complete from

day of purchase to installation

Waste Audit: Downtown Recycling

• One week audit in May 2015 produced 1,048

gallons of recycling; 73% was recyclable material.

Away-from-Home Recycling

Downtown Recycling Expansion

• NCDENR 2016 Community Waste

Reduction and Recycling Grant

• $30,000 Grant

– $6,000 Grant match

• 23 Victor Stanley Recycling containers

• Estimated completion date: April 2017

Documents

RECYCLING IN NC - Apwa-Nc Chapternorthcarolina.apwa.net/Content/Chapters/northcarolina...Recycling Market Update •Some major factors influencing the value of your recyclables: •Low