Fewer Plastics from Europe: Industry Sounds the Alarm

For the first time, European plastics producers also recorded a decline in recycled plastics. This decline in recyclates is a challenge for the packaging industry. The Plastics Europe Germany association is concerned about the competitiveness of the German industry.

Rolls of plastic film in production. — Plastics production in the EU is declining. The industry is concerned. The Plastics Europe association also sees the circular economy at risk.

Important sectors such as packaging, automobiles, construction, and electronics cannot do without plastics. Current economic developments are jeopardizing the competitiveness of the European plastics industry, which currently secures over 1.5 million jobs in 51,700 companies. This is explained by the Plastics Europe Germany association.

Drastic Decline

Current data from Plastics Europe shows a drastic decline in plastics production in the EU by 8.3 percent in 2023 compared to 2022 to 54 million tons. The production of mechanically recycled plastics fell by 7.8 percent to 7.1 million tons. However, the use of recyclates (post-consumer recyclate, PCR, and post-industrial recyclate, PIR) increased by 24 percent since 2021 to 580 kt (2021: 467 kt) in 2024. These increases were mainly achieved by an increase in PCR volumes, from 369 kt in 2021 to 470 kt in 2023.

Global plastics production increased by 3.4 percent. Europe’s share of the global market will, therefore, fall to 12 percent. Europe has a positive trade balance and still exports more plastics in terms of value than it imports. However, since 2022, the EU has been importing more plastic pellets in terms of volume and, since 2021, more plastic products than it exports. The European foreign trade surplus of 5.4 billion euros also marks a long-term low.

Portrait of Dr. Christine Bunte, Managing Director of Plastics Europe Deutschland. — Economic development also threatens the goals of sustainability, says Dr. Christine Bunte, new Managing Director of Plastics Europe Germany.

Despite the fact that the EU has the highest percentage of recyclable plastics globally, at 14.8 percent in 2023, the increase was only 0.7 percent compared to the previous year. Alongside the decline in mechanical recycling production, 0.12 million tons of chemically recycled plastic were produced in Europe in 2023, while the production of bio-based and bio-attributed plastics increased slightly to 0.8 million tons. If post-consumer recyclates are included, the share of circular plastics in Europe is 20.6 percent.

Economic development is also jeopardizing sustainability goals. Europe’s dwindling competitiveness is threatening the important transformation to a circular economy when it comes to plastics, according to Dr. Christine Bunte, the new Managing Director of Plastics Europe Germany. The decline in industrial production in the EU and especially in Germany led to a drop in demand for plastics from customer industries in the third quarter of 2024.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the production of plastics in primary forms fell by 2.4 percent compared to the previous quarter.

Circular Economy Made More Difficult

According to the industry association, there are currently no signs of a rapid recovery in demand. “In my view, the decline in exports and investments, two pillars of German competitiveness, is particularly worrying,” says Bunte. “The necessary transformation to a climate-neutral circular economy is made even more difficult under these conditions. In addition to competitive energy prices and the reduction of bureaucratic burdens, a new German government, therefore, needs targeted investment incentives in circular economy technologies such as the collection, sorting and recycling of plastic waste.”

This is because European plastics producers, like the majority of European industry, are faced with high production costs caused by expensive energy and raw material prices, excessive bureaucracy and the limited availability of circular raw materials. If growth rates do not increase again, the goals of the Plastic Transition Roadmap will not be achieved, industry experts are certain.

“Slipping into Dependency”

Marco ten Bruggencate, President of Plastics Europe and Dow EMEAI, says: “Europe is slipping into a growing dependency on imported plastics that do not always meet EU standards, while European production sites are already closing. The harsh reality is that industrial activities and investments in circular plastics production are moving out of Europe due to the difficult investment climate. This trend is further exacerbated by possible inadequately declared imports and threatens our competitiveness. We only have a small window of opportunity to secure investments and regain it.”

Recycling Records

The Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen takes a more optimistic view and emphasizes the recycling records. As announced by the Central Agency Packaging Register together with the Federal Environment Agency, the mechanical recycling rate for 2023 rose to 68.9 percent.

Four out of five plastic consumer packaging products are already highly recyclable today. “Our industry did its homework early on,” says Dr. Isabell Schmidt, Managing Director of the Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. “80 percent of the plastics recycled in Germany already come from the packaging sector. Other industries such as construction and automotive must now follow suit if they want to use recyclates on a large scale. This is because the industry will claim the packaging recyclates for itself in the future.”

By Anna Ntemiris, editor