SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): A newly released report by the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) suggests significant increase in average commodity prices for Q4 last year. The average Q4 commodity value with residuals surged by 36% and without residuals by 32% over the prior quarter.

The report is based on information collected from ten U.S. states- Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

ALSO READ:

City of Salem to Hold a Series of Zero Waste Events

City of Tampa to Celebrate Global Recycling Day

The survey report, the 18th in the series of quarterly report on market value of commodities from Northeast MRFs. The report suggests increase in prices of Old Corrugated Containers (OCC) and Residential Mixed Paper (RMP). These two commodities reported steady increase in prices throughout the previous year. In Q4 2023 alone, the prices of OCC and RMP registered increase by $20 per ton and $15 per ton respectively. The processing costs recorded increase from $87.78 to $93.09 per ton.

Four out of the above ten states have beverage container deposit laws in place, as a result of which MRFs in those states process fewer glass bottles, PET bottles and aluminum cans. Consequently, these MRFs reported reduced revenues from those recyclables.