The recycling industry has not been immune to the effects of the global turmoil that has been ever-present over the past year. In fact, although recyclables have continued to provide a supply, demand from countries such as China have decreased meaning that prices for recyclable materials have decreased thanks to the lower demand for such products.

In fact the situation got so bad that boats filled with recyclable goods were said to be stuck in Chinese harbours unable to offload their goods because there were no buyers for the goods. Recycling warehouses have said their stores are filling up fast and some have been unable to accept any more recyclables because they don’t have any place to sell them.

So is this really a problem? The answer is it depends on the type of product that needs to be recycled. For paper, there is a limited shelf-life. If it gets slightly damp, it may turn mouldy which will ruin the whole batch of paper and leave it unable to be recycled. There is also the problem of mice and rats deciding to take up residence in piles of paper that have gone unmoved for a long period of time. The rodents will contaminate the recyclable paper, again making it unsuitable for recycling.

However the industry has seen the first signs of growth and it is hoped that the recycling industry will pick up soon. Export demand is finally starting to pick up again and this means that recyclable goods are finally moving out of the warehouses again.

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