Recession hits the EU’s plastics recycling industry

The downward trend in the European plastics recycling market is alarming, Plastics Recyclers Europe warns, the association of European plastics recyclers, in a recent press release. The increasing lack of demand for recyclates produced in Europe, the reduced investments in domestic recycling, and the increase in imports of recyclates from outside the EU have been suffocating the European plastics recycling industry in the last few years. These issues are feeding the existing recession on the market - driving many recycling companies out of business in 2023, with further closures happening or planned in the course of 2024. This downturn will continue unless the situation is addressed urgently.

At the beginning of this year, the plastics recycling industry already warned about the signs of difficult market conditions with no interim prospects of recovery. Ten months later, the primary issue to be addressed continues to be the worrying increase in imports of polymers from outside the EU with questionable claims of recycled content and no effective verification and traceability measures in place. Ton Emans, Plastics Recyclers Europe’s President, said, “this situation undermines the progress and investments made to improve recycling processes. Many recyclers are struggling to survive in a market flooded with uncontrolled imports that fall short of EU requirements.”

According to the European association, to answer this situation, it will be important to restrict market entry for imports that fail to meet the EU’s environmental requirements, as recommended in the report on EU Competitiveness authored by Mario Draghi. Creating a level playing field will be key to making the green transition sustainable and safeguarding the competitiveness of the EU’s industry in the long run. The measures and targets introduced in the core pieces of EU legislation must now be enforced urgently and effectively. However, given the stalling growth of the industry, achieving these targets is currently unrealistic, as capacities would need to at least double by 2030

Plastics Recyclers Europe urges European Institutions to act now and create a genuine circular single market for plastic waste and recycling. The newly elected EU Institutions have the opportunity to take a positive turn, but immediate measures are needed to solve the key issues threatening the existing plastics sorting and recycling infrastructure, as well as future investments. Without these measures, the future of European plastic recycling appears uncertain - a situation that we cannot afford for the sake of the EU's competitiveness and a sustainable future for Europe.