...and you would need to figure out that riddle fo
Post# of 43064
However I can give you a hint why $800/ton plastic finds its way to landfills with an analogy....
Aluminum cans with a current value of $1,740/ton also find their way into landfills, although at a smaller percentage than plastic. Aluminum cans are easier to identify, weigh more than their plastic counterparts for the same volume of liquid and don't need to be sorted by type.
So why would anyone find aluminum cans in the dump?? If not all aluminum cans get recycled, what would you hypothesize about a material which costs less than half that price and is significantly harder to sort out of the waste stream?
If you are able to figure out that riddle, you will be able to see why the market prices listed on various websites for sorted HDPE, PP and LDPE plastics are around $800/ton. That's on par with the price of diesel if calculated in tonnage terms. Even if PTOI could somehow make pure diesel at their 87% conversion efficiency, the math doesn't work out for any profit. Scrap plastic is better sent to recyclers who will pay that amount.
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