Let’s talk about the scrap plastic market top trends for 2013

We’ve been getting a lot of traffic here at the BlackBridge Investments blog, but we’d like to hear more from our readers and get some conversations started that can help us all to better understand some of the emerging trends affecting the scrap plastic industry in 2013.

So let’s hear from you: What do you think are going to be the biggest scrap plastic industry trends in 2013?

These trends can be as “big picture” or localized as you want to be. We’re happy to discuss any ideas you want to share about where you see our industry heading in 2013. Either add a comment at the end of this post, or feel free to send us an e-mail with your thoughts at sales@blackbridgeinvestments.com.

For example, here are some possible trends and topics that we want to hear from you about:

  • Which parts of the world are buying more scrap plastic in 2013?
  • Which industries are going to be using more scrap plastic? Which industries are showing less demand?
  • What will be the trend toward “going green” in 2013? Are government regulations going to increase, requiring more plastic recycling (which would help our industry)?
  • What do you expect to happen with regard to fuel prices, and how can plastic scrap traders manage the risk of rising costs of shipments?
  • Is it becoming more or less difficult to ship plastic scrap into other countries, with customs and inspection requirements? (For example, this article in Recycling Today says that Chinese customs officials have increased their scrutiny of plastic scrap shipments during 2012 – is this trend going to continue?)
  • Do you expect to see more demand for certain uses of scrap plastic – from certain end users, like making the shredded plastic into furniture or clothes?
  • Will there be more or less demand for certain types of scrap plastic bottles?
  • What are you hearing from your scrap plastic trading partners? What are people’s biggest areas of concern, or biggest opportunities that people are excited about in 2013? (Of course, don’t betray any secrets…but what are some general trends that people seem to be mentioning in conversation?)
  • Do you expect to see more stability or more volatility in the scrap plastic market in 2013? Why, or why not?

Any ideas from our industry colleagues are welcome! We would love to hear from you. Perhaps if we get a lot of good suggestions, we can write up the best trends and predictions into a new blog article to share with our audience on LinkedIn.

Let us know what you think. Where is the scrap plastic industry headed in 2013? How can we as scrap plastic buyers and sellers position ourselves to make this year a big success?

Tell us what you think in the Comments – or send us an e-mail at sales@blackbridgeinvestments.com.