Demand for materials decreases as supply keeps climbing

White signs on sides of Denver’s curbside recycling pick-up vehicles declare: “Recycling. It’s easier than ever.” But today recyclers say it’s increasingly difficult to move mounting heaps of plastics, cardboard, bottles and newspaper that Denver residents enthusiastically stuff into purple bins.

The problem: The ultimate end-users of recycled material — largely factories in Asia — aren’t buying as much as they did when the global economy was growing. Prices paid to recyclers, which once topped $150 a ton, plunged by 70 percent last fall and have stayed relatively low. That leaves recycling plants, such as Waste Management Inc.’s single-stream facility in Denver, struggling to get rid of the heaps. “Right now, there’s an imbalance,” said Chuck Schmidt, Waste Management’s director of recycling for 11 Western states and part of Canada.

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