the FUTURE OF SCRAPPING or

**Otto** · 07-09-2013, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by NobleMetalWorks

The cardboard market is pretty much set. For extra pocket change when I owned a grocery store I used to sell the bails of cardboard and the pallets truckers left behind for extra cash. I have seen cardboard bail prices drop dramatically over the years, yet all the cardboard industry can get their hands on is recycled and turned into goods already. There is not enough carboard waste being generated to supply the demand, thus the use of trees.

And as hemp becomes legal to grow as a crop, the dependency on forests to provide the fiber pulp needed to make paper will dramatically reduce, so in cardboard, I think we are going to see a dramatic drop in prices within the next 5-10 years rather than an increase in demand. This added with the fact that many business are going paperless, and more and more public establishments are using other methods to dry rather than paper, I think the paper recycle business might not be the best example to use.

Scott

I'm not an expert on the forest industry, but It's my understanding that there has been a dramatic shift away from pulp over the past several years. Wood pellets, primarily for power generation, is growing steadily. This, and problems with supply due to Mountain Pine Beetle and other pests, means there will be an increasing scarcity of wood fiber (especially when home construction ramps up again). I did some reading on wood recycling over the winter and it appears that there are companies involved in this. I have no idea what used wood fiber is going for, but money follows scarcity. If someone has access to significant volumes of waste wood, there may be an opportunity here.

**NobleMetalWorks** · 07-09-2013, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by Otto

I'm not an expert on the forest industry, but It's my understanding that there has been a dramatic shift away from pulp over the past several years. Wood pellets, primarily for power generation, is growing steadily. This, and problems with supply due to Mountain Pine Beetle and other pests, means there will be an increasing scarcity of wood fiber (especially when home construction ramps up again). I did some reading on wood recycling over the winter and it appears that there are companies involved in this. I have no idea what used wood fiber is going for, but money follows scarcity. If someone has access to significant volumes of waste wood, there may be an opportunity here.

Wood and wood pulp are different in that their markets are different, and the way they are recycled are different.

For example, wood eaten by Beatles can still be used to pulp, but cannot be used for construction.

So you are correct in that wood used for construction has become very expensive indeed. And this has caused some pressure on the wood pulping industry in the type that manufactures paper products. But so far as cardboard is concerned, it keeps going down because there is more and more of it. Just imagine how much cardboard enters the US every year from China, as more and more of our goods are Chinese made, more and more of the cardboard is as well.

The other side of the story is that there is a big controversy currently over the trees that Monsanto is creating that will not produce offspring, and have less lignin so that it's easier to produce pulp from them.

Monsanto and ArborGen set their sights on GM trees and grasses

Which I might add seems totally insane to me considering that Hemp fibers do it far better, and I'm not so keen on the idea of introducing GMO trees that have a drop dead gene built in, sounds dangerous to me.

Scott

**newattitude** · 07-17-2013, 12:41 PM

I don't see it ending (scrapping) but, I do see it leveling out due to the large number of people/businesses recycling now.

We will always need certain things like steel, aluminum and copper, etc. Where we might start seeing being able to make more money in the long run is with some plastics that currently aren't being recycled/re-utilized.

As for your last 3 thoughts, those are already in place - the laws/rules of free scrapping or scavenging as many cities put it, fuel prices and precious metal's.

it's about supply and demand and right now everyone has a supply but is our ''demand'' on par with the ''supply?'' I don't think so and thats why prices stay down.

because many manufactures and people in general are looking for ways to utilize things that won't need recycled in the end of its life.