Can recycling increases, but smelters say government needs to impose tax
Huta Skawina resmelts 1,500 tons of recycled aluminum scrap per month, but "not even 1%" comes from cans, Paciorek said. The reason is the cost of equipment needed to resmelt cans and the low availability of cans on the market, Paciorek said.
"There are too few cans collected in Poland," Paciorek said. "We aren't really looking into recycling them."
However, the Recal Foundation has a distinctly opposing view.
Established by can producer Continental Can Polska in 1995, Recal is sponsored by international aluminum producers and package users. It was formed to propose solutions other than taxes to the recycling problem, said Piotr Tyszko, its president.
In 1997, Recal received DM 400,000 from its corporate sponsors, in addition to zl. 77,000 from the National Fund for Environmental Protection (NFOS), to encourage recycling through education and the organization of collection networks, Tyszko said.
Aluminum producers and package-dependent companies "learned their lesson in other countries," Tyszko said, pointing to countries with packaging taxes and even bans on canned beverages. "That's what the industry would like to avoid."
But countries with package taxes recycle two to three times more than those without, Tyszko admitted. For example, Sweden and Germany have package taxes and recycle 91% and 81% of their aluminum cans, respectively, Tyszko said. Italy and the U.K., with no taxes, recycle only 37% and 31%, respectively, he said. "It is still too early to say what rate could be attained in Poland," Tyszko said. "I believe we can easily achieve the British number in several years."
But while Poland's recycling rate is increasing, technical constraints make can resmelting unpopular among aluminum smelters, said Witold Gaweda, commercial director at aluminum smelter Huta Kety.
"For the conversion of aluminum cans you need a special installation for neutralizing dioxins," Gaweda said, adding that melting paint on the cans produces toxic substances. Huta Kety invested more than $1 million in new equipment two years ago so it could handle a mixture of cans and aluminum scrap, Gaweda said. Few others in Poland have the capacity to safely resmelt cans, he said.
Since the factory receives only 100 tons of cans for every 3,000 tons of other aluminum scrap it resmelts monthly, it does not pay to buy machines specifically for can resmelting, Gaweda said.
And falling can prices, which Gaweda said reflect aluminum prices on the London exchange, threaten to keep can collecting rates low, said Wieslaw Blak, director of aluminum-collecting firm Skaw-Met in southern Poland. Skaw-Met collects about 500 tons of aluminum per month, about 6% of which comes from aluminum cans traded in at one of 13 buying points scattered around the voivodship, Blak said. But recent market changes may put Skaw-Met's can-collecting operations in danger, Blak said.
"Generally the can recycling business has done well," Blak said. "But now the aluminum factories are trying to reduce prices because of lower prices on the exchange."
Over the last two months, factory buy-back prices have fallen 20% to zl. 1.80 per kilogram, possibly destabilizing a base market of sellers motivated more by economic incentives than environmental ones, Blak said. "These prices are so low that people won't want to sell back their cans," he added.
Still, Recal Foundation hopes that its efforts - which include organizing recycling in more than 400 schools across the country in addition to a Phare-supported pilot, can-recycling program in Wroclaw - will increase recycling rates and help create a profitable can recycling system, Tyszko said.
And this should be enough to keep taxes out of the can business, he added.
The number of cans used in Poland grew from 200 million units in 1995 to approximately 500 million in 1997, Tyszko said. Collecting rates climbed from 7% in 1996 to 10% in 1997, Tyszko said.
Recal's primary sponsors include international aluminum companies Continental Can, ALCAN, VAW Aluminum AG, ALCOA, Pechiney-Rhenalu, Reynolds Aluminum, PLM AB, PepsiCo Poland and SPEDPOL.
"There are too few cans collected in Poland," Paciorek said. "We aren't really looking into recycling them."
However, the Recal Foundation has a distinctly opposing view.
Established by can producer Continental Can Polska in 1995, Recal is sponsored by international aluminum producers and package users. It was formed to propose solutions other than taxes to the recycling problem, said Piotr Tyszko, its president.
In 1997, Recal received DM 400,000 from its corporate sponsors, in addition to zl. 77,000 from the National Fund for Environmental Protection (NFOS), to encourage recycling through education and the organization of collection networks, Tyszko said.
Aluminum producers and package-dependent companies "learned their lesson in other countries," Tyszko said, pointing to countries with packaging taxes and even bans on canned beverages. "That's what the industry would like to avoid."
But countries with package taxes recycle two to three times more than those without, Tyszko admitted. For example, Sweden and Germany have package taxes and recycle 91% and 81% of their aluminum cans, respectively, Tyszko said. Italy and the U.K., with no taxes, recycle only 37% and 31%, respectively, he said. "It is still too early to say what rate could be attained in Poland," Tyszko said. "I believe we can easily achieve the British number in several years."
But while Poland's recycling rate is increasing, technical constraints make can resmelting unpopular among aluminum smelters, said Witold Gaweda, commercial director at aluminum smelter Huta Kety.
"For the conversion of aluminum cans you need a special installation for neutralizing dioxins," Gaweda said, adding that melting paint on the cans produces toxic substances. Huta Kety invested more than $1 million in new equipment two years ago so it could handle a mixture of cans and aluminum scrap, Gaweda said. Few others in Poland have the capacity to safely resmelt cans, he said.
Since the factory receives only 100 tons of cans for every 3,000 tons of other aluminum scrap it resmelts monthly, it does not pay to buy machines specifically for can resmelting, Gaweda said.
And falling can prices, which Gaweda said reflect aluminum prices on the London exchange, threaten to keep can collecting rates low, said Wieslaw Blak, director of aluminum-collecting firm Skaw-Met in southern Poland. Skaw-Met collects about 500 tons of aluminum per month, about 6% of which comes from aluminum cans traded in at one of 13 buying points scattered around the voivodship, Blak said. But recent market changes may put Skaw-Met's can-collecting operations in danger, Blak said.
"Generally the can recycling business has done well," Blak said. "But now the aluminum factories are trying to reduce prices because of lower prices on the exchange."
Over the last two months, factory buy-back prices have fallen 20% to zl. 1.80 per kilogram, possibly destabilizing a base market of sellers motivated more by economic incentives than environmental ones, Blak said. "These prices are so low that people won't want to sell back their cans," he added.
Still, Recal Foundation hopes that its efforts - which include organizing recycling in more than 400 schools across the country in addition to a Phare-supported pilot, can-recycling program in Wroclaw - will increase recycling rates and help create a profitable can recycling system, Tyszko said.
And this should be enough to keep taxes out of the can business, he added.
The number of cans used in Poland grew from 200 million units in 1995 to approximately 500 million in 1997, Tyszko said. Collecting rates climbed from 7% in 1996 to 10% in 1997, Tyszko said.
Recal's primary sponsors include international aluminum companies Continental Can, ALCAN, VAW Aluminum AG, ALCOA, Pechiney-Rhenalu, Reynolds Aluminum, PLM AB, PepsiCo Poland and SPEDPOL.
