The amount of non-bottle plastic recycled in 2009 was one-third higher than the previous year, brought on by increased demand for post-consumer plastic. In its third annual report on non-bottle rigid plastic, released in 2011, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has identified the barriers preventing more plastic from being recycled and reused in the United States. The 479 mln lbs recycled in 2009 was almost 33% higher than the 360 mln lbs recycled in 2008, and almost 50% more than from 2007, the first year the ACC started covering non-bottle plastic. The increase in non-bottle plastic collected — like plastic pallets, buckets and food tubs, was due to a combination of recyclers and associations that worked to get more communities to recycle more types of plastic, along with an increase in the number of companies that gave recycling information to Moore Recycling Associates Inc., which conducted research for the report. U.S. recyclers got access to only about 19 mln lbs from the increase as export rates went above 2007 levels, returning from a drop in 2008. Overall, 51% was recycled in USA and Canada, with the rest being exported, mainly to China. One aspect of exports hurting domestic efforts is poor quality standards for bales of plastic. Since exporters in USA sell to brokers, the final buyers in China never have contact with the sellers, and therefore can't give feedback on the quality of what they received. A lack of quality standards leads to poor quality plastic domestically as well. "But we should not wholly rely on China as our market for plastic scrap," the report says. "By doing so we are exporting jobs, and other downstream benefits, and we are essentially exporting energy. Recycling benefits strongest when local". For improved domestic recycling, the companies that end up using recycled plastic need consistent supplies of quality plastic. To that end, the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers created bale specifications for different types of mixed plastic it hopes that material recovery facilities (sites that sort recyclables) adopt. EU's scrap collection and processing sector has witnessed a significant reduction in orders for its secondary raw materials from mills and foundries as the Euro zone debt crises hits manufacturers. European Metal Trade and Recycling Federation (Eurometrec) members are national federations from EU member states representing the interests of commercial firms that are primarily involved in the collection, sorting, trade, processing and recycling of non-ferrous metal scrap. The sovereign debt crisis in the Euro zone is continuing to have an adverse effect on the EU's general economic well-being and on the confidence of EU citizens. Consumers are choosing to restrict their expenditure, and there has been a negative impact on the order books of an EU manufacturing sector already confronted by the issue of overcapacity. As a result, the EU's scrap collection and processing sector has witnessed a significant reduction in orders for its valuable secondary raw materials from the region's mills and foundries. Prices of scrap have weakened as a consequence, thus providing a disincentive in some instances to collect and process scrap because of the more unattractive margins. There has been a significant decline in volumes of manufacturing scrap becoming available in the EU as a result of production cutbacks triggered by reduced demand for finished products.