STORY: Demand for recycled plastic decreasing in France
DATELINE: July 24, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:06
LOCATION: ANNECY, France
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT/SOCIETY
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of plastic waste recycling bins
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (French): FRANCOIS EXCOFFIER, President of the professional federation of recycling companies (FEDEREC)
3. various of plastic recycling labels on a bottle
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (French): FRANCOIS EXCOFFIER, President of the professional federation of recycling companies (FEDEREC)
 
STORYLINE:
 
By 2030, packaging in France will have to incorporate 30 percent of recycled materials for all plastic bottles, and yet the plastics industry is not celebrating: the results at the start of this year are not good and the outlook for the end of 2023 remains bleak.
 
In the context of falling oil prices and rising energy costs, recycled plastic is becoming less attractive.
 
Between May 2022 and May 2023, the main petro-sourced virgin plastics recorded a price drop of around 25 percent to 40 percent (depending on the polymers). At the same time, the price of recycled plastic was rising, which made manufacturers reduce their orders for recycled plastic in the first quarter of 2023.
 
A ton of new plastic costs on average 1,000 euros (about 1,113 U.S. dollars), and a ton of recycled plastic is almost 1,700 euros (about 1,892 U.S. dollars).
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (French): FRANCOIS EXCOFFIER, President of the professional federation of recycling companies (FEDEREC)
"Our alert stems from the fact that virgin material, which comes from petroleum, costs less than that comes from sorting because labor costs and production costs related to electricity make new plastic cheaper."
 
The plastic recycling industry is worried. This sharp and sudden drop in the demand for recycled materials concerns all user sectors and in particular the packaging sector.
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (French): FRANCOIS EXCOFFIER, President of the professional federation of recycling companies (FEDEREC)
"Today, the cycles of use of recycled materials are catastrophic while the cycles of use of virgin materials are efficient. The automotive and building industries use a lot of recycled plastic and these are sectors that have been undermined in recent years."
 
Faced with this situation, the federation of recycling companies calls on consumers to favor products made from recycled plastic in their purchases.
 
The federation asks the public authorities to create a label for products made from plastic to encourage consumers to orient their purchases according to recycling.
 
Europe has set a target of 90 percent collection and recycling of plastic bottles in 2029, while this rate currently stands at 60 percent in France.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Annecy, France.
(XHTV)