Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) have long played a disproportionate part in the cash flow & profitability of glass processing businesses. Unlike some recyclates, where the PRN is an administrative burden & the value is largely irrelevant, the glass PRN can represent the entire revenue for glass. The development of glass into an aggregate substitute was driven almost entirely by PRN price support. The financial sustainability has been significantly affected by recent events which has demonstrated a failure of the PRN system to genuinely promote recycling. During the last 3 months the crash in PRN values has led to a huge drop in revenue to the supply chain which has, in turn, caused a significant reduction in the value of container glass cullet, as explained in this article.
