Waste Handling & Recycling Solutions

Harmony’s Data-Driven Sustainability Solutions bring together energy optimization, indoor health protection, and real-time operational intelligence to help organizations create healthier spaces, reduce energy use, and make smarter decisions—powered by measurable data, not assumptions. These human-centric technologies are designed to work independently or together to deliver continuous performance improvement, verified savings, and long-term sustainability outcomes across commercial, industrial, agricultural, and institutional environments.

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Solutions Built Around Your Industry & Operational Environment

Reduce hauling costs, improve backroom efficiency, and simplify recycling with solutions designed to keep busy retail backrooms running efficiently every day.

Retail & Grocery

Manage corrugated, plastics, scrap materials, and production waste with durable equipment built for continuous use, helping free up floor space while supporting a safer, more productive work environment.

Manufacturing & Industrial Facilities

Keep docks clear, reduce labor handling time, and process recyclable materials efficiently to support continuous movement and material flow across high volume warehouse and logistics environments.

Distribution & Warehousing

Support cleaner spaces, smarter waste handling, and operational reliability with solutions designed for hospitals, clinics, and regional medical campuses.

Healthcare & Medical Centers

From schools and municipal buildings to apartment communities, Harmony solutions help manage waste across multiple locations, while controlling costs and minimizing disruptions to improve safety, cleanliness, and operational performance.

Public Sector & Multi Facility Environments

High material volumes, space constraints, and rising transport costs make efficient compaction essential to keep operations running and margins strong. Process OCC, PET, aluminum, textiles, and mixed recyclables with equipment designed to maximize throughput, bale quality, and commodity value.

Recycling & Material Recovery

Harmony Recycling Market Pulse: Updated Weekly!

Monday Market Pulse | September 14–18, 2026

OCC: Old Corrugated Containers continue to strengthen in September. The latest national average is approximately $90 per ton, up from $80–$85 per ton in August and roughly $67 per ton one year ago. That represents a significant year-over-year improvement and continues the upward movement seen throughout the summer. Regional mill demand, freight and material quality will continue to influence individual markets, but clean, dry OCC and consistently dense bales remain well positioned. Higher bale density can also increase payloads and reduce transportation cost per ton.

Mixed Paper: Mixed paper also moved higher this month, with the latest national average at approximately $35–$40 per ton, up from $30–$35 per ton in August and approximately $31 per ton one year ago. While mixed paper remains a lower-value fiber grade than OCC, continued improvement makes quality and contamination control increasingly important. Keeping moisture, plastic film and other contaminants out of the material can help generators capture the strongest available return.

PET: PET remains the most challenged commodity in this week’s Market Pulse. The latest national average for post-consumer PET beverage bottles and jars is approximately 2.61 cents per pound, essentially unchanged from 2.63 cents last month and well below the approximately 5.09 cents per pound reported one year ago. With commodity value remaining under pressure, operating efficiency continues to play an important role in the recycling equation. For higher-volume generators, maximizing bale density, removing excess liquid and shipping full truckload quantities can help offset weak material pricing.

Aluminum UBC: Used Beverage Cans continue to provide strong value within the recycling stream. The latest national average for sorted, baled UBCs increased to approximately 96.56 cents per pound, up from 93.75 cents per pound in August and well above the approximately 78.44 cents per pound reported one year ago. That year-over-year strength continues to make aluminum one of the brighter spots in the current commodity mix. Clean, dry and properly densified cans can help generators maximize both material value and transportation efficiency.

Steel Cans: Steel cans remain stable, with the latest national average holding at approximately $198 per ton, compared with about $158 per ton one year ago. Although pricing is essentially unchanged from August, the substantial year-over-year improvement remains encouraging. Regional mill demand and freight costs can still affect individual returns, making dense, contamination-free bales important for efficient handling and transportation.

Overall, recycling markets enter the middle of September with continued strength in recovered fiber and metals. OCC and mixed paper both posted additional gains this month, aluminum remains particularly strong on a year-over-year basis, and steel continues to hold steady at improved levels. PET remains the clear weak spot, with pricing at roughly half of where it stood one year ago. For generators, the contrast reinforces the importance of controlling the factors they can influence: producing clean material, maximizing bale density and reducing unnecessary handling and transportation costs. Those operational efficiencies can help protect recycling value regardless of the direction commodity markets move next.

Market conditions and commodity pricing vary by region, material quality, volume, transportation costs, and individual recycler or mill agreements. This Market Pulse is intended as a general industry snapshot and should not be considered a guaranteed price quote.