As Europe moves to restrict scrap exports and India tightens its own import checks, the debate is all about imports. But India's two biggest sources of home-grown scrap, the Alang shipbreaking yards and the new vehicle scrapping centres, are running far below what they were built for. A Recykal Times analysis of official figures shows that the unused capacity at home is several times larger than the European supply now at risk.
September has closed, and each of our four material reports tells a different story. Copper went nowhere after a $750 swing, polymer prices rose round after round, lithium lost a quarter of its value, and Punjab's harvest season has begun. Here is the month in one page, with a link to the full report for your material.
Battery recycling had a tough month on prices. Lithium carbonate futures in China fell about 25% in September, and payables for black mass, the powder recovered from old batteries, slipped week after week. Meanwhile official data shows how much value India's e-waste still loses. Here is the month in numbers, and where the opportunity sits.
Indian polymer makers revised prices on at least seven separate days in September, and Reliance and OPaL announced another increase for 1 October. At the same time, a film maker cut packaging film prices twice. Oil touched $104 before easing to about $99. Here is what the month's numbers say for converters, recyclers and collectors.
Copper finished September almost exactly where it began, after a swing of more than $750 a tonne along the way. Zinc and copper stocks in London warehouses rose sharply, lead stocks fell, and India imported nearly 30% more finished steel in the first five months of the financial year. Here is the month in numbers, and what they say about October.
September changed the ground rules for India's scrap and recycling trade, from Brussels and Beijing to New Delhi and Punjab. Europe drew a line on metal scrap, India tightened its own import checks, oil above $100 made new plastic dearer, and a fixed biogas price gave straw a ten-year market. Here are the ten changes that matter most, ranked, with what each means and who it affects.
A draft EU list published on 18 September 2026 leaves India out of the countries allowed to receive European metal scrap after 21 May 2027. On 24 September, the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) asked the Commerce Ministry to step in. The list is not final: comments close on 16 October and the first list is due by 21 November 2026. The outcome depends largely on whether the Commission accepts that Indian recyclers handle metal scrap safely.
Reliance and IVL Dhunseri raised virgin PET prices by ₹2 a kg from 24 September 2026, with Brent crude above $100 a barrel. It lands at the halfway mark of the first year in which rigid plastic packaging must carry 40% recycled content. In May 2026, recyclers said a fifth or more of their food-grade capacity was idle, while an industry body representing beverage makers says supply falls short. Dearer virgin resin weakens the cost case for waiting and gives more bargaining power to whoever holds clean PET bottles.
Punjab expects 18.81 million tonnes of paddy straw this harvest. Over the past eight weeks the Centre has put a ₹23,731 crore guaranteed-price scheme behind biogas, coal plants are being fined for burning too little biomass, and brick kilns face a 30% straw-fuel rule from 1 November. Straw has stopped being a waste problem. It is becoming a traded commodity, and the money will go to whoever can collect, store and deliver it.
This week, Eicher-maker VECV signed a deal to route old trucks into registered scrapping centres. Behind it are a government scheme to replace more than 2 lakh old trucks and buses, and an auto industry that missed its legal scrapping target by 70%. For the first time, subsidy money and compliance demand are pointing at the same scrapyard gate.
Prices for copper, aluminium, and zinc are climbing while nickel slides, creating clear opportunities for scrap dealers to sell the strong and buy the weak.
High Profit OpportunityBuyer DemandSeller OpportunityPrice Increase
A wave of private investment is rapidly building an end-to-end lithium supply chain in India, from overseas mines to domestic refineries and massive recycling plants. For the Indian scrap industry, this isn't just news—it's the birth of a new, high-value market.
High Profit OpportunityBuyer DemandSeller OpportunityInvestment Opportunity
For the first time in recent memory, Mumbai's MS scrap rates are higher than Pune's, forcing a rethink of sourcing and sales strategies across Maharashtra.
Buyer DemandSeller OpportunityPrice IncreasePrice Drop
The immediate risk of a 15% EU export duty on aluminium scrap is gone, dropped to protect a wider trade deal with India. But for Indian buyers and sellers, the relief is temporary. The EU is now shifting its focus to a powerful new weapon: the Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR), which could block scrap flows to India from May 2027.
The next global supply chain for critical minerals may not start in a mine. It may start in India’s scrapyards, creating a quantifiable link between a dealer's yard and a multi-billion dollar strategy.
High Profit OpportunityGovernment IncentiveInvestment OpportunityDemand Surge
A post-monsoon demand surge and tight mill supply have pushed Indian steel scrap prices up by over ₹1,100/tonne in a single week. For sellers, it’s a golden opportunity. For buyers, it’s a critical margin test.
High Profit OpportunitySeller OpportunityPrice IncreaseDemand Surge
