The current state of the plastics recycling industry is not a temporary weakness, but a "structural crisis", according to Ton Emans, president of the umbrella organisation Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE). The number of European plastics recycling facilities closed down since 2023 has now reached 45, PRE said in a post on LinkedIn. Speaking last week at a webinar entitled "Circularity at Risk – How Can the Plastics Recycling Industry Survive in Europe?", organised by S&P Global Commodity Insights, Mr Emans blamed the crisis largely on a number of political and regulatory factors and warned that the situation would "not repair itself".
In addition to the causes named frequently by industry associations and market observers in recent months – high energy costs, an influx of cheap, sub-standard imports, complex and sometimes contradictory regulatory obligations coupled with inconsistent enforcement, and an oversupply of low-priced virgin plastics – Mr Emans highlighted the unequal treatment of recyclers under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a further burden for the industry. According to PRE, producers of primary plastics can receive up to 90 per cent of their emissions allowances free of charge, while recyclers must pay for theirs, even though recycling results in lower emissions. This, he argued, creates an unfair cost advantage for virgin material....
