WasteTrade

03/09/2026

EU Circular Economy Act Faces a Critical Material Test

"The EU Circular Economy Act is intended to help Europe use resources more efficiently by keeping valuable materials in circulation for longer, increasing the use of recycled raw materials and reducing dependence on newly extracted resources. Yet as Brussels prepares the legislation, a more difficult question is moving to the centre of the debate: can Europe become genuinely circular without confronting the sheer quantity of material it consumes?

The distinction matters. Recycling can reduce demand for virgin resources, but an economy can improve its recycling rate while continuing to consume ever greater quantities of raw materials. For the EU, whose material footprint remains high despite more than a decade of circular economy policy, that creates a problem which stronger secondary-material markets alone may struggle to solve."

The full story is available on our website via the link below.

Click here --> https://www.wastetrade.com/news/eu-circular-econoy-act-faces-a-critical-material-test

EU Circular Economy Act faces a critical test as Europe weighs stronger recycling markets against the need to reduce overall material consumption now.

01/09/2026

Waste incineration’s entry into the UK ETS has been delayed, but the direction of travel has not changed.

Once carbon pricing is applied to waste incineration, burning residual material will carry a carbon cost on top of the gate fee. That changes the commercial calculation for streams sitting just below the threshold of economic recyclability.

Some materials that previously looked too difficult, too costly or too marginal to recover may start to look different when the cost of disposal rises.

That does not make every stream profitable. It does move the threshold.

The useful work now is not waiting for the next deadline. It is understanding what sits inside residual waste, identifying fossil-rich fractions, improving segregation, and finding processors that can take material into credible recycling routes.

Recycling is still a commercial decision. Collection, sorting, transport, processing costs, commodity value and disposal pricing all matter.

The UK ETS delay gives the sector more time to get that decision right.

Read the full story on our website.

Web: www.WasteTrade.com
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3089 2184

01/09/2026

UK ETS Waste Incineration Delay | A Major Reset for Recycling

"The UK ETS waste incineration expansion will no longer begin in 2028. In practical terms, the Government has postponed plans to make Energy-from-Waste (EfW) and incineration operators account financially for the fossil carbon released when residual waste is burned under the UK’s carbon market. It has not abandoned the policy, and it has not announced a replacement date.

For local authorities and EfW operators, the decision removes an approaching cost cliff at a time when budgets, contracts and the final design of the scheme remain uncertain. For the recycling sector, however, it changes the timetable rather than the direction of travel.

Fossil carbon remains embedded in residual waste, particularly in plastics and other synthetic materials. If the UK ultimately prices those emissions, the commercial value of keeping suitable material out of incineration will become harder to ignore."

The full story is available on our website via the link below.

Click here --> https://www.wastetrade.com/news/uk-ets-waste-incinerations-delay

UK ETS waste incineration delay reshapes carbon costs plastic waste recycling economics and secondary material markets across the UK

20/08/2026

PPWR 2026 | Major Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation Update

"Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation rules are now live across the European Union, but 12 August 2026 did not trigger the wholesale packaging reset some businesses had expected. Put simply, PPWR is the EU's new rulebook for how packaging must be designed, what it can contain, how much material it should use, how it should be labelled and what should happen to it once it becomes waste. The first requirements are operational. Many of the measures most likely to reshape packaging design, recycled-material demand and procurement economics build through 2028, 2030, 2035 and 2040.

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into force on 11 February 2025 and has applied generally since 12 August 2026. Food-contact packaging now faces PPWR limits on PFAS, while economic operators must address the documentation, identification, conformity and producer-responsibility duties that apply at this stage. The European Commission published an updated FAQ on 3 August and a further implementation notice on 11 August, immediately before general application began.

Those clarifications make the present position more nuanced than a simple compliance countdown. The Commission has indicated that market-surveillance authorities should allow businesses to correct remediable non-compliance before escalating where appropriate. It has also clarified the treatment of packaging produced before 12 August but not yet placed on the market, reducing the risk that businesses would have to destroy or remake existing stock solely because of the changeover date.

None of this amounts to a grace period. It shows instead what the PPWR story now is: a live regulation entering a long implementation phase while the Commission completes important technical rules around it.

The commercial consequences reach well beyond packaging departments. Recyclability grades will influence design. Recycled-content thresholds will influence procurement. Waste-prevention and reuse rules will influence formats and logistics. Documentation requirements will influence supplier relationships.

At the same time, Europe's secondary-material market is being reshaped by tighter waste-shipment rules and difficult recycling economics.

The result is a regulation about packaging that increasingly behaves like a regulation about materials, information and market access.

For businesses, the central question is no longer simply what PPWR says. It is whether their packaging specifications, supplier data and recycled-material supply chains can stand up to what comes next."

The full story is available on our website via the link below.

Click here --> https://www.wastetrade.com/news/ppwr-2026

PPWR is now live. Explore Packaging Waste Regulations, recycled-content rules, UK impacts, DPPs and what businesses should do next across Europe now.

18/08/2026

EU Plastic Waste Export Ban | The 95-Day Race to Reroute Trade

"The EU plastic waste export ban takes effect on 21 November 2026, meaning non-hazardous plastic waste from the European Union will no longer be allowed to go to non-OECD countries. The material will not disappear, nor will demand. What changes is the map of legal destinations and, with only 95 days remaining from 18th August, companies have little time to reorganise routes.

For exporters, recyclers, brokers and processors, this is a market restructuring exercise. The EU plastic waste export ban will decide which buyers remain reachable, which plants retain European feedstock, and which lower-value grades retain an economic route to recovery.

November is not the end of the regulatory story."

The full story is available on our website via the link below.

Click here --> https://www.wastetrade.com/news/eu-plastic-waste-export-ban

EU plastic waste export ban reshapes trade from November 2026, forcing exporters and recyclers to rethink routes, compliance, sourcing and pricing.

13/08/2026

Supply Chain Traceability | US Blacklists Chinese Companies Over Forced Labour Concerns

"Supply chain traceability has become the dividing line between material that can move through regulated markets and material that can be stopped at the border. In practical terms, it means being able to show where a product or raw material came from, who handled it, how it changed and which records belong to the physical batch being traded.

That requirement moved sharply into focus on 31 July 2026, when the US Department of Homeland Security added 43 Chinese companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Effective from 3 August, the additions increased the list from 144 entities to 187 in its largest single expansion.

The consequences reach far beyond the named companies."

The full story is available on our website via the link below.

Click here --> https://www.wastetrade.com/news/supply-chain-traceability-us-blacklists-china

Supply chain traceability is reshaping forced labour compliance as US and EU rules demand proof of material origin, custody and journey now.

12/08/2026

Many different materials are experiencing sky-high demand on WasteTrade, covering PET bottles, PET flakes, HDPE regrind and granulate, PS and HIPS regrind, and baled OCC.

Here are just some of the listings that are generating bids and enquiries:

Clear Bottles Water / CSD - Baled | 500 MT | Poland
Deposit system bottles, post-consumer packaging source, supplied baled. Digital Product Passport available.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/2343

PET Flakes Cold Washed | 500 MT | Egypt
Cold washed bottle flake produced in Yemen, priced ex Aden port or El Hodaida port.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/1587

PET Flakes Hot Washed | 500 MT | Nigeria
Clear and light-blue hot washed PET bottle flake, supplied in bags. Technical Data Sheet available.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/2413

Light Blue Bottles - Baled | 170 MT | Poland
Deposit stream bottles, post-consumer packaging source, supplied baled. Digital Product Passport available.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/2344

Clear Bottle Flake Cold Washed | 10 MT | Italy
Cold washed flakes of African origin, with up to 400 MT monthly supply available. Digital Product Passport available.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/1978

HDPE Blue Drums Recycled Granulate | 800 MT | Saudi Arabia
Reprocessed once from 200L blue drum regrind, suitable for blow moulding and pipe extrusion. DPP and TDS available.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/2355

HDPE Drum Regrind - White | 60 MT | Romania
Washed white HDPE drum regrind, supplied in bags.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/999

PS Regrind From Trays | 100 MT | Romania
Thermoforming grade PS regrind from trays, supplied in bags, with continuous monthly supply available.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/1686

HIPS From Electrical Black Regrind | 100 MT | Ghana
Crushed black e-waste thermoplastics, supplied in 25kg bags, with monthly availability.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/1688

Corrugated Board OCC - Baled | 500 MT | UAE
Ordinary grade OCC in mill-size bales, with monthly availability from Dubai.
https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/1298

You can bid and enquire directly through the platform or contact the WasteTrade team at: [email protected].

Web: www.WasteTrade.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3089 2184

11/08/2026

Recycled Polyester Fibre in Egypt | Bottles in Cairo to Duvets in Europe

"Recycled polyester fibre in Egypt begins with used PET bottles. Processors clean and shred the bottles into flake, then melt and spin that material into new fibre for pillows, duvets, furniture, nonwovens, automotive products and textile spinning. It is a practical form of circular manufacturing, but its real importance extends beyond recycling alone.

Egypt has something few markets can combine at the same scale: recoverable material, established conversion capacity and immediate access to several major trading regions. Europe lies across the Mediterranean. The Gulf is close. African markets connect to the south and west, while Asian routes pass through the Suez corridor.

The opportunity is not theoretical. Collectors already recover the material, manufacturers already produce the fibre and international buyers already understand the product. What remains less developed is the commercial system capable of connecting those parts consistently."

The full story is available on our website via the link below.

Click here --> https://www.wastetrade.com/news/recycled-polyester-fibre-in-egypt

Recycled polyester fibre in Egypt could reshape regional supply chains through local recovery, processing and global trade, unlocking new industrial value.

06/08/2026

High-demand material listings are live on WasteTrade right now, with active supply moving across PET, mixed plastics, ferrous metals and PP regrind.

These are not passive listings. They are trade-ready materials currently available for immediate enquiry, with full specifications, load details and commercial terms accessible through the platform.

Current available materials include:

PET Hot Washed Flakes, Grade A
Location: Saudi Arabia
Available: 36,000 MT
Incoterms: EXW
Clear water and CSD bottle grade, municipal source, with Digital Product Passport and Technical Data Sheet available.
Click here for full details: https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/2359

Mixed Industrial Plastic Scrap
Location: Poland
Available: 500 MT
Incoterms: EXW
PP post-dairy cups with heat-sealed aluminium, available on pallets or reground in big bags. Sourced from industrial production, with Digital Product Passport available.
Click here for full details: https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/2369

Steel Can Bundles, Baled
Location: Malta
Available: 75 MT
Incoterms: FOB
Post-consumer ferrous cans from packaging, mill-size baled.
Click here for full details: https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/2015

PP Extrusion Regrind, Natural
Location: Germany
Available: 60 MT
Packaging: Big bags
De-dusted, de-metalised, clean and dry PP regrind, with MFI approximately 1.5 at 2.16kg / 230°C.
Click here for full details: https://www.wastetrade.com/wt_waste_listing/2373

You can place bids directly on the platform, or get in touch with the WasteTrade team to discuss sourcing, pricing or logistics.

Click here to view full listings and current availability: www.WasteTrade.com

Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3089 2184

05/08/2026

The next generation of WasteTrade is here.

We have rebuilt the platform from the ground up to make buying, selling and moving recyclable materials faster, safer and easier to manage.

This is more than a design update. The new platform brings improved performance, stronger security, a cleaner user experience and better workflows for the businesses trading through WasteTrade every day.

It also introduces major upgrades behind the scenes.

Digital Product Passports will help create clearer records of material provenance and traceability.

Company Rooms will make collaboration easier between buyers, sellers, hauliers and the WasteTrade team. Enhanced automations will reduce manual admin across listings, offers, documents and logistics.

The platform has also been built with DIWASS and digital waste tracking in mind, helping users manage shipment information, documentation and compliance through more structured digital workflows as the waste and recycling industry moves away from fragmented paper-based processes.

That matters because recyclable material does not just need to be traded. It needs to be documented, moved, verified and tracked properly from origin through transport, delivery and recovery.

The new WasteTrade platform has been built for that reality.

Faster. Safer. More connected. Ready for the next stage of global recycled-material trading.

Explore the new WasteTrade platform:
www.WasteTrade.com

Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3089 2184