News

The Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) trading market was significantly down in May compared with the previous month, according to PRN trading company The Environment Exchange.

Managing director Angus Macpherson attributed the collapse to legislative hurdles and the ambivalence of buyers and sellers to trading. The sector fell from 100,000 tonnes traded across all markets in April to 29,198 tonnes in May.

Prices have generally remained steady, but traded volumes have decreased.

The volume of paper PRNs traded by The Environment Exchange was 9,708 tonnes, down from April’s 30,000-plus tonnage, but prices increased by £0.71 compared with April.

Traded volumes in plastic have remained relatively steady this year, but the average price is up by £4.78 per tonne, a significant improvement on April.

Similar to the plastic market, glass PRNs increased in price, but falling demand slowed the process. Some 4,315 tonnes were traded in May compared with 10,432 the previous month. The average traded price increased by a modest £0.86 per tonne.