The price being paid for recovered plastic material has fallen by as much as £40 per tonne across all grades, with lower quality material among the worst affected, following increased inspection and import controls in the Far East.

However, operators have claimed that they do not expect the drop to be as severe as in late 2008 - and predicted that the problem is likely to only be short-term.

In particular, the sharp fall in price is said to have affected lower quality plastic material, such as contaminated film, carrier bags and mixed plastics, such as yoghurt pots.