The persistently weak demand for recyclates has found another prominent victim. Lobbe Entsorgung West (Iserlohn, Germany; www.lobbe.de) has ceased operations of its film recycler FVH Folienveredelung Hamburg (www.ecophoenixx.de) at its plant in Schwerin, Germany, in early May 2023.

A Lobbe spokesperson confirmed this when asked by Plasteurope.com. It is not yet clear whether the plant will continue to operate later on or if it might be relocated.

Related: Veolia PET recycling plant in Germany on the brink of closure

According to Lobbe managing director Michael Wieczorek, FVH had been complaining about falling revenues since the fourth quarter of 2022. High energy prices made things worse. All things considered, economic operation was no longer deemed possible.

Founded in 2012, FVH has been processing agricultural, post-consumer, and shrink film scrap into around 20,000 t/y of Ecophoenixx brand polyethylene recyclate since 2015. It used the proprietary HydroDyn and AeroDyn processes to remove soiling and paper stickers without the use of chemicals, according to the company. Lobbe had expanded operations in 2018.

The oversupply of primary products and their falling prices generally have made business with LDPE recyclates more difficult, especially in the films sector. “Even at slightly higher prices, processors prefer to buy primary products because it is more difficult to reliably assess the manufacturing process with recyclates,” Martin Bäcker and Vincent Breit of the Plasteurope.com price team explain.

For standard recyclates, the proportion of LDPE is sometimes as low as 40%, other materials being LLDPE and HDPE, and often even polypropylene. The latter in particular makes further processing, for example into shrink film, more difficult because of the higher shrinking temperature required.

The price decline of virgin materials and the structural crisis in the plastics recycling market were also central topics at the 25th bvse International Waste Plastics conference in Dresden, Germany.