The European Union’s transition towards a circular plastics economy has come to a marked halt, according to the latest biannual report by Plastics Europe, published on Tuesday 19 May.
In 2024, only 15.8% of plastics produced in Europe, or 8.7 million tonnes, came from recycled materials or other circular sources. Annual growth in this production fell to 1.2% over the 2022-2024 period, compared with 13.6% between 2018 and 2022.
Demand from European plastics converters for recycled plastics is also slowing sharply, with growth limited to 4% per year, compared with more than 16% previously.
At the same time, global production of recycled and circular plastics is accelerating, highlighting a loss of competitiveness for European industry.
The recycling rate for plastic waste collected in Europe has reached 29.6%, but more than 70% of volumes are still being sent for incineration or landfill, according to the report. The report highlights strong dependence on external value chains: indeed, nearly 20% of recycled plastics used in Europe are imported.
Link to report: https://aeur.eu/f/lz1 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)