The growth of Europe’s plastics-recycling capacity has slowed suddenly, according to data gathered by a major trade body.
Plastics Recyclers Europe said the 27 EU member states, alongside the UK, Switzerland and Norway, had the ability to recover 13.2m tonnes of the material last year.
This was up 6 per cent from the previous year but represented a drastic drop in pace against an average growth rate of 17 per cent over the five years to 2022.
The trade body blamed the slowdown on higher production and energy costs for European companies; lack of demand for EU-recycled plastics; and an increase in imports of virgin and recycled plastic from outside the continent.
It warned that the reduced pace of growth could be “further exacerbated in the coming years if current conditions continue” and urged legislators to act to encourage further investment.
“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.
“Additionally, investments have halved, with only 500m euros [spent] in 2023 compared to the 1bn euros that were injected in 2022.”
Germany held the highest installed plastics recycling capacity on the continent in 2023, followed by Spain and then Italy, the UK and France.
