Repak hopes to have Easter recycling cracked

(plasticsinfomart) -- Repak is urging householders to recycle up to half of the used packaging over the holiday period - 98% of which is not Easter egg-related.

Last year Repak helped to recycle 18,300 tonnes of mixed packaging from households over the Easter period - the highest since its establishment in 1997.

At the launch of its Easter recycling campaign yesterday, Repak pointed out that Easter egg consumption increased by 3.4% last year, with Irish people spending EUR24.2m on Easter eggs alone.

This Easter Irish people will consume more than 9.5m Easter eggs - an average of 2.13 eggs per person.Almost 70% of Irish households buy Easter confectionery, with the average shopper buying around eight eggs.

As well as eating 1,000 tonnes of Easter chocolate, over 6.5m litres of wine and 15m litres of beers is expected to be drunk over Easter, especially at Good Friday parties.As well as reducing the size of the outer cartons, manufacturers have lightened the cardboard and many have removed the previously used plastic inserts, as well as experimenting with packaging-free eggs.

Repak is an industry funded organisation whose aim it is to facilitate and grow packaging recycling.

MRC

(yarnsandfibers) -- Propylene prices surged in Asian markets amid mixed sentiment and tight supply. Downstream acrylonitrile market remained firm supporting propylene market. US spot propylene assessments were at roughly nine-month high to close the shortened week while in Europe, demand for spot propylene supply in Northwest Europe was scarce as many industry players were away on Easter break.

Acrylonitrile prices remained flat across all regions as participants stayed on the sidelines amid uncertainty over the market's direction. During the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday, spot trade was mute in China and liquidity at producers was slow on limited demand. In US, spot acrylonitrile assessments remained unchanged for a second week as traders awaited direction from feedstock April propylene contracts. European spot prices were steady as many industry players were either sidelined ahead of the long Easter break.

Acrylic fiber markets saw thin trades on weak demand from the downstream. However, offers and spot discussions remained flat amid balanced fundamentals.
mrcplastc.com

(yarnsandfibers) -- Ethylene prices remained flat amid thin spot trading activity as major markets were closed for a major part of the week. China was on holiday Monday to Wednesday, while Taiwan was closed Wednesday. The US spot was mostly steady while European contract steam cracker margins for April turned positive following the increase in the ethylene April contract price. Paraxylene was cheaper in Asia and US on thin trading amid tight supply.

Mono ethylene glycol prices sank in Asian markets, hit by weak polyester market and high inventories. Trading was weak after the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday in China, but MEG market tends to hold stable at low prices. Purified terephthalic acid markets were dull and prices declined on thin trading amid hard to improve downstream polyester markets. In Europe, the market for PTA in NW Europe appeared set to move from balanced to long in the coming months as Artlant PTA announced it had begun delivering PTA from its in Sines, Portugal.

Polyester chip markets in Asia remained under flat correction as feedstock, PTA and MEG prices showed sluggish trend, but were seen picking up later in the truncated week. The markets were more active supported by post-holiday small-volume restocking activities.
MRC

(chemmonitor) -- Europe spot prices for polystyrene (PS) remained relatively stable through the previous month due to the absence of evident changes in the demand level.

Values of high impact material showed certain improvement in the first half of the month. They grew by USD 15 per tonne by March 15 from February 29.

MRC

(chemmonitor) -- China-based polyethylene (PE) traders experience hard times on the back of the weak demand from domestic users. The consumption is traditionally poor at some point in April-May. However, the country's demand is currently well below the usual level.

The sellers started to search for buyers in other parts of the Asian region. Potential purchasers were found in the Southeast where the availability of PE (linear low density one) is not sufficient.
MRC