Plastic Waste : New market research: Plastics recycling capacity stagnating
The latest data show a slowdown in the growth of installed plastics recycling capacity in Europe. In 2023, total capacity in the EU27+3 (EU27+3 englobes all EU-27 countries plus Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) will reach 13.2 million tonnes, an increase of only 6% compared to the previous year and the lowest progress since 2017. Prior to that, capacity had doubled in just 5 years with an average growth of 17%, reflecting the sharp decline in growth.
“The challenges the EU's plastic recycling sector faced in 2022 have been confirmed by the latest figures for 2023.”, said Ton Emans, President of Plastics Recyclers Europe. He added: “Additionally, investments have halved, with only 500 million euros in 2023 compared to 1 billion euros that were injected in 2022.”
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These new figures show an overall slowdown in recyclers' activities, raising concerns about the viability of achieving the EU's recycling and recycled content targets. Some of the main reasons for this situation are the higher production and energy costs for European companies, the lack of demand for EU recycled plastics, and the increase in imports of virgin and recycled plastics from outside the EU - often uninspected and not meeting the same requirements as EU recycled plastics.
Now Plastics Recyclers Europe calls on Member States and the European Institutions to take immediate action and enforce existing legislation to safeguard the competitiveness of the EU industry and support the ongoing growth of plastics recycling capacity.
