Chemicals, Polymers

March 20, 2025

INTERVIEW: Recycled plastic not expected to reach virgin resin prices, but to be affordable: AVN CEO

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

This content is part of the WPC 2025 series, in which we explore key themes from the 40th annual World Petrochemical Conference.

The price of recycled plastic is not expected to reach "exactly the same as virgin material," but it "will get to a point where it's affordable," said Steven Hedrick, CEO of AVN Corporation, on March 20.

The statement was made in an interview with Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, during the World Petrochemical Conference in Houston.

Mentioning the "additional handling and steps" associated with recycled plastic, Hedrick said it is important for there to be recognition of this throughout the value chain.

In addition to greater awareness, while various companies are trying to meet their recycled material usage targets worldwide, the collection of raw materials for the recycling industry has been reported as insufficient in several regions around the world, adding further cost pressure.

Regulation

In some locations, market participants point out that the implementation of regulations could benefit the market, with measures such as establishing a minimum amount of recycled material to be used by companies.

Hedrick stated that he does not see this possibility as an effective solution on its own. "Blind legislation is often harmful to the entire process," he said, advocating for the industry to work together in this process.

"Advocacy work by industry with government to educate and assist government understanding how to best facilitate the success associated with, this is a far better solution than government mandates."

Higher demand than supply

Hedrick believes that demand will remain high, and mentions the importance of changes in consumer behavior, "whether it's looking for something on the packaging that indicates the content of recycled material or actively participating in recycling our own materials."

He acknowledges, however, that the collection of material for recycling is still not sufficient to meet the expected growth in demand. "Do we have enough infrastructure to do this? No, absolutely not."

In light of this and speaking about regional differences, he cited positive examples of progress in the collection of recycling materials in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Germany. "We have a lot of work to do in other developed nations to get this done," he said.

As for emerging countries, he said that "there is an enormous amount of work to be done" due to structural issues. "There's a mismatch in how they're trying to get clean water for their people and we're trying to recycle plastic."

He compares it to the processes underway in other countries, such as the United States. "If we do this from the beginning, it will be much easier. If we try to do it retroactively, as we are used to doing in the United States, it is much more difficult."


Editor: