Belgium

Prices for base monomers are still in decline: at the end of June, these were Euro 30 per ton under the already-low levels seen in May. Furthermore, polymer production seems unlikely to get any help from the markets as demand has fallen even further. Even if converters were to stockpile strategically because of low prices, supply is still going to exceed demand.

This is confirmed by the following comparison: on the spot market in May, you would pay around Euro 1250 per ton for virgin LDPE, which is significantly below the contract price of Euro 1910. For June, the contract price was still at Euro 1900 per ton.

For recyclate, the slightly upward trend of recent months has already ended. In June, European prices fell for almost all recyclates, with only rHDPE blow-moulding grades holding on to a slight increase. Demand for other polymer types remained very weak. During the summer months, recyclate prices are expected to fall even further. Nevertheless, the price of, for example, rLDPE (Euro 1320 per ton) is higher than that for virgin material on the spot market (Euro 1250 per ton).

Elections have been held and discussions to set up the new European Commission are under way. There are great expectations within the industry regarding possible changes/delays to the recently-approved Waste Shipment Regulation revision and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. So the next few months are likely to prove very interesting.

A few years ago, Belgium’s EPR organization Valipac developed a website detailing certified producers of packaging with at least 30% recycled content and their circular products. This website enables brand owners to find circular producers and the products they need. The EU version of this platform is now online (www.myrecycledcontent.eu), listing countries where a national version of this Belgian initiative is now available taking into consideration domestic regulations or incentives to promote the use of circular packaging.