Many of the key ingredients to modern life are increasingly hard to find, of lower quality, and more expensive. From rare earth metals for electronics to plastics in everyday life, the ability to recover materials at end of life is becoming a security issue — not just an environmental one. This week we look at how conflict in the Middle East has upended plastics pricing, why old electronics are a strategic domestic resource, and what a shrinking federal role means for the industry building the infrastructure to address all of it.
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Iran War Has Flipped the Script on Plastics Pricing
The conflict-driven closure of the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 84% of Middle East polyethylene exports flow — has triggered a historic shift in plastics pricing. For decades, virgin plastic’s cost was tightly linked to fossil fuel markets while recycled plastic’s costs were driven by collection, sorting, and processing — putting recyclers at a structural disadvantage whenever oil was cheap. That equation has now flipped: polypropylene prices have risen more than 30% year-to-date as feedstock costs surged in April. For the first time on record, recycled PET flake is now cheaper than virgin PET in Europe, with recycled resin demand surging across Asia as brands scramble to lock in supply insulated from Hormuz exposure.
Sources: Recycling Today ·
MIT Technology Review ·
Atlantic Council ·
CNBC ·
World Economic Forum
E-Waste and Critical Minerals Recovery Gaining National Urgency
Old electronics are emerging as a strategic domestic resource for critical minerals amid tightening global supply chains. Speakers at the ReMADE Institute’s annual conference in Washington said unused phones, laptops, and other “hibernating devices” could help bolster U.S. critical minerals supply, but collection and domestic processing remain stubborn challenges. A new tool from e-Stewards and Bloom ESG aims to help electronics recyclers and IT asset disposition companies better quantify specific recycled or reused materials — including copper, steel, aluminum, gold, silver, and palladium — as part of a broader effort to strengthen domestic supply chains. A recent CNET survey found that only 39% of U.S. adults recycle old technology, while 22% throw it away, disposing of valuable critical minerals in the process.
Sources: Resource Recycling ·
Waste Dive ·
Spectrum News
Trump’s FY2027 EPA Budget Proposes Steep Cuts to Recycling and Waste Programs
The Trump administration’s proposed FY2027 budget would sharply reduce federal support for waste minimization and recycling. Funding for the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery would be slashed from a $113 million enacted budget in 2026 to roughly $68 million in 2027 — including a 56% cut to waste minimization and recycling funding specifically. The proposal follows a pattern: Trump signed an $8.8 billion EPA budget for FY2026, which was $320 million less than the prior year but far more than what the administration had initially proposed. Congress will have the final say, but the proposal signals continued federal retreat from recycling infrastructure support at a moment when domestic materials security has never been more urgent.
Sources: Waste Dive ·
Waste Dive
Foundational Knowledge
The More You Know
From SWEEP
When Risk Becomes the Business Case
A new SWEEP report examines how conflict in the Middle East has put a spotlight on the strategic importance of recycling plastic — and what it means for the industry when geopolitical risk, not environmental policy, becomes the primary driver of recycled material demand. As virgin plastic prices surge and recycled resin becomes the cost-competitive option, the business case for recycling infrastructure has fundamentally shifted. This piece provides essential context for understanding the moment the industry is now in.
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Shape the SWEEP Standard — Public Comment Now Open
The SWEEP Standard is open for public comment, and we need your expertise. SWEEP’s National Consensus Committee approves the SWEEP Standard benchmarks that define excellence in sustainable materials management for municipalities and waste service providers across the country. Join the process and help shape the future of the industry.
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Comment on the New SWEEP Standard
SWEEP’s National Consensus Committee approves the SWEEP Standard benchmarks that define excellence in sustainable materials management for municipalities and waste service providers across the country. Join the process and help shape the future of the industry.