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for material on the open market. The following are the major factors influencing the prices paid for recycled materials. Some are very local issues affecting glass prices. Others are more global in nature and involve the economies of other countries like China. Summary of Current Market Conditions In 2016, the overall prices paid by end markets for the material recycled in the city's program began the year low with the gross revenue generated from the sale of materials still being exceeded by the cost for processing. The "zero floor" clause of Roseville's contract in 2016 meant that Eureka Recycling absorbed the $13,376 in lost processing fees. In the second quarter of the year prices began to show a slow and steady increase. In the second quarter Roseville saw just over $2,869 in revenue. By the end of the year that had risen to just over $17,911. The low cost of oil continues to put downward pressure on the price of recyclable plastics as manufacturers can choose to use virgin oil over recycled content. Cardboard saw a steady increase. With more and more people joining the online shopping phenomenon all those shipments in cardboard boxes meant that not only did we see an increase in the amount of cardboard in the recycling. It also caused an increase in the prices paid by manufacturers for recycled cardboard to make the next generation of boxes. Old corrugated cardboard (OCC) prices were up 60% by the end of 2016. Steel also showed price improvements from January to December. The price for steel went up nearly 35% by the end of the year, with higher spike in prices mid -year during the summer. At its peak steel was up 90% from its January price. Prices paid for glass remain very low in 2016. The existence of only one processing facility for glass in Minnesota means that the supply of glass is still as high or higher than the capacity of the local market to process and sell it. As a result, while Eureka is still able to sell and recycle the glass here in a local market the cost of processing and shipping that mixed glass to Strategic Materials Inc. (SMI) exceeds the price paid for it. While the economic value of glass may currently be low, the environmental benefits and the positive impact glass has when recycled locally supporting jobs locally still makes it a net positive material. Why does recycling glass matter? Without immediate planning and action, some of Minnesota's recycled glass will end up in landfills or dropped from programs all together, and without a long-term solution that requires responsibility and some investment from producers, like bottle deposit legislation, glass may cease to be recycled at all. Glass collected for recycling that needlessly ends up in a landfill will end up costing the cities and their residents more money while reducing their recycling programs' environmental benefits. There are significant, undisputable environmental and economic benefits achieved from recycling glass. These include energy savings, reduction of air and water pollution, and a 7