Most valuable scrap Plastics and China?

A little bit off topic but of interest Im sure,sorry I dont know scrap plastic forum.
Plastics.
Report said China is getting picky over europes plastic waste.
That there are different grades of waste plastic some very desireable.
What plastics are those and where would they be found?
Probably talking industrial container loads here but who knows?
Germany you get like 50 cents for an old plastic water bottle
I hear.
Could add up.

Originally Posted by Lazen

Germany you get like 50 cents for an old plastic water bottle

You got it! Plastic water bottles are worth the most. But honestly if you get 50 cents per bottle it is because the government is subsidizing that to get people to recycle. My yard here pay's .15 a pound right now.

Originally Posted by recyclersteve

If they were truly worth anywhere near that, scrap yards everywhere would be tripping over each other to buy them.

I've actually been told by my scrap yard that they won't buy plastic or glass. And they are more liberal than some of the others in the area- by that I mean they will take catalytic converters without a receipt showing that you bought a new one. Also, they take bare bright without a business license, so for them to flat out refuse plastic is not a good sign.

Also, some states (like Michigan, Oregon and California) have bottle (and plastic) return programs where you can get 5-10 cents each for returning them. But it is meant only for people in those states. Someone from a neighboring state transporting a large quantity across state lines could be in big trouble for trying to "game the system." I remember reading that one state (pretty sure it was California) said they calculated that more than 100% of the plastic and/or metal containers they sold were being returned. This seems impossible until you account for items brought into California from Nevada and Arizona (but not Oregon, which has its own program) to get the extra money.

It gets even more complicated: I remember going to a scrap yard that I never actually dealt with. I was traveling and just wanted to check out their pricing since they were in a rural area. I asked about what they paid for aluminum cans. The response surprised me. The lady at the yard said they pay 30 cents a lb. if the cans are crushed and 60 cents a lb. if they are not. She admitted that many of the uncrushed ones end up going to another state that has a program to pay more for cans. So she freely admitted that they were breaking the law. She dodged her way out of it by saying that they sold to someone else first and that other party was the one who took the cans across state lines.

Funny because a rural scrap yard near me unapologetically told me they do the same thing with cans. Sell to a buyer who takes them from AZ to CA.

I read an article a while back where the state of California was alleging that a single party took over $3 million in aluminum cans across the border to get the higher price in California. This was probably 3-4 years ago or so.

I wonder if people have tried bringing cans up to California from Mexico????

Originally Posted by Lazen

Germany you get like 50 cents for an old plastic water bottle

The person who bought that item had to pay the 0.50 Euro in taxes.
Over here in the 'states, that tax was called a 'deposit'. Some states have is, some states don't.

On a side note, Google says that recovered plastic pellets sell for $0.60 /lb - $0.80 /lb in bulk for '#1' and '#2' ... anyone have a grinding, washing, sorting, and pelletizing machine ?

Our recycling centers used to take #1-#7 plastic. Now they only take #1 and #2 because that's the only kind they can make money off of, so all of my plastic goes to the landfill.

Originally Posted by RLS0812

The person who bought that item had to pay the 0.50 Euro in taxes.
Over here in the 'states, that tax was called a 'deposit'. Some states have is, some states don't.

On a side note, Google says that recovered plastic pellets sell for $0.60 /lb - $0.80 /lb in bulk for '#1' and '#2' ... anyone have a grinding, washing, sorting, and pelletizing machine ?

The bottle deposit isn't really a tax though. The way it works is that you pay a five cent deposit at the cash register when you buy some kind of beverage like a can of beer or a bottle of Pepsi. You return the empty container and get your five cents back.

Some people collect five cent deposit bottles and cans on the side of the road. One of the guys that i work with at our redemption center does this as a side job. He brought in a pickup truck full last Saturday when i was on. All those nickels add up.

Statewide ... we're recycling somewhere around 85 - 90 percent of the bottles and cans that are being sold here.

There's also something like a 25.00 $ dollar deposit on aluminum beer kegs. Those are something to watch for if you're scrapping in any state cause i think that's universal.

Have to wonder about the 50 cent deposit in Germany though. That seems like an awful lot for a regular 16 oz bottle of water that you would buy at the store. Have you ever seen those big water jugs that they tip upside down for office water coolers ? Maybe that's what they were talking about ? Hard to say without more information.

Definitely should watch out for plastic pallets if you run across any of them in your travels. The nicest hardwood pallets are about 20.00 - 25.00 $ to buy new but the plastic ones are about 120.00 $ to buy new. The used ones are quite desirable if they're in halfway decent condition. They're much better to work with, and more durable than their wood counterparts.

Problem is that they're usually stamped with a company name saying "property of." A lot like milk crates that way.