Recycling companies across Europe are “struggling” with high costs and low demand, a leading figure has warned.
Henk Alssema, chairman of the Bureau of International Recycling’s Plastics Committee, said a number of reprocessors on the continent had collapsed recently.
Dutch recycling giant Umincorp Polymers BV reportedly began insolvency proceedings at the end of January.
In his latest quarterly update, Alssema said: “Unfortunately, the future does not look promising for many recycling companies: the combination of low prices and high costs is taking its toll.
“Many recycling companies are struggling and some have already had to close their doors; in the Netherlands, one of the leading recycling companies filed for bankruptcy last month.
“Such capacity losses are in contradiction to the need for greater capacity in the upcoming period. European policies need to be better aligned to ensure the achievement of circular goals.”
Alssema said selling prices of recycled materials had risen slightly at the start of this year but mainly due to higher shipping costs as a result of unrest in the Red Sea.
“It is too early to talk of a market recovery,” he said. “Despite the slight price increases for HDPE, PET, PP and HIPS, demand for recycled materials has still not returned to previous levels.”
The plastics chief said more recycling capacity was required in Europe but firms did not want to invest in the current market.
“Therefore, there is a growing demand from our industry to make it mandatory to incorporate recycled materials into end products as soon as possible. As it stands, this will be mandatory only by 2030 – it needs to happen faster if we want to be prepared for the future.”
