‘Glimmer of hope’ for plastics recyclers in continued tough market

Regulators, producers and brand owners were called on to “step up” their commitments to plastic recycling and a circular economy at the BIR’s World Recycling Convention in Bangkok.

Introducing the Plastics Division plenary session on 27 October, Henk Alssema, divisional President and CEO, INVIPLAST (NLD) set out the continued challenging market for plastics recyclers, across almost every region. But he also gave a message of hope.

Delegates heard that, by the end of 2025, nearly one million tonnes of recycling capacity will have disappeared from the market in Europe over a two-year period. Virgin prices remain low, squeezing margins and pushing recycled material out of the market, while economic growth is slow.

Mr Alssema said: “It’s the same story everywhere: low virgin prices, thin margins and too little certainty to invest. When times get this tough, it’s easy to lose faith, to think maybe that this industry has no future. But in my opinion, the opposite is true. Every circular revolution starts in a downturn. When things break down, that’s when new ideas break through.”

He added: “We invested, we innovated and, most importantly, we stayed in the game, even when it hurt. But now it’s time for others to step up and match that commitment, from regulators to producers and brand owners, because without a strong recycling industry, there is no circular economy, but only a circle of good intentions.”

There have been positives, including the “glimmer of hope” in news that the European Union was planning to support recyclers. France’s introduction, in January 2026, of financial incentives for companies that use recycled content is another important development, which could set the example for others. In the Middle East, growth is expected as governments push bans on single-use plastic, and circular economy initiatives.

Depressed market

Discussing the current market, Max Craipeau, CEO, Greencore Resources Limited (Hong Kong, CHN) called it “an understatement” to say it was “depressed or bad”. The figure of one million tonnes of plastics recycling capacity lost from Europe over two years, had happened in just one year, he argued, if you combined shutdowns across Europe, Asia and the US. He pointed out that most of these were not PET-related, but for polymers such as PP and PE.

The “major culprit” in the sector’s loss of capacity, said Mr Craipeau, was cheap oil. He disagreed with the view that material from Asia, North Africa and South America imported into Europe was responsible for shutdowns.

“Low price of oil, means low price of virgin material, means the user can definitely give up their commitment to use recycled content because they have an option to get much cheaper material with virgin polymers,” he said.

“To give you an idea of the difference, today, you can find, in Europe or in the US, or in any developed market, virgin PET at US$ 800 per tonne. Recycled PET is twice this price, so it’s very hard to compete. And unless you have a strong mandate from the government, like we have in Europe with the Single Use Plastic directive or other mandates in the US, brands typically go away from their commitments and prefer to use a cheap material.”

Don’t blame imports

Mr Craipeau said that imports into Europe from Indonesia and Malaysia had been blamed for recycling shutdowns, but “if you look at the statistics, it is not accurate”. By his calculations, Indonesia and Malayasia exported into Europe an average of 60,000 tonnes, out of the two million tonnes of PET recycling capacity. “When I talk to PET recyclers in Europe, they all tell me…we don’t have enough, we need to import. What they import from those two countries – which are often seen as the culprits – is 2% of the capacity. So…the culprit is not imported material.”

Asked how lost recycling capacity could be brought back, Olivier Francois, President of Recycling Europe said it would be a “very difficult” to reverse the situation and it would need to be driven by an increase in demand, most likely from new regulations. For investment to return, there needed to be both an obligation to recycle and demand for what is recycled.

Mr Craipeau added that ensuring compliance with legislation was equally important, “because these days, that’s a problem, there is no enforcement”. He flagged that India is introducing minimum recycled content legislation and, although it has been delayed, it shows that developing countries are also now bringing in such measures.

Patcharin Thamasirianunt, sales specialist at Union J Limited (THA) revealed that Thailand mostly exports PP, HDPE and LDPE, with its top three export destinations being China, India, and Indonesia. The country is planning to introduce measures including extended producer responsibility and design for recycling.

Recent investment in Union J has led to new machinery and plant, along with ambitions to produce premium and food grade polyolefins. It uses recycled feedstock to produce PP, HDPE, LDPE and LLDPE, supplying 60% of its output to local markets and the remainder to customers in Asia.

UN Global Plastics treaty update

Wrapping up the presentations was an update on the UN Global Plastics treaty negotiations from Bianca Mannini, Trade and Environment Policy Officer at BIR. She reported that, after the last meeting in Geneva in August, “negotiations ended once again without consensus on a treaty text, but there was a renewed sense of urgency”.

There was a divide between those who want a full life-cycle approach to plastic pollution and a legally binding treaty, and those who want to limit the scope of the treaty to waste management and use voluntary commitments.

Ms Mannini said that key decisions about the next round of negotiations will be taken at a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in December and that “there is hope, there is an expectation for a strong treaty”.

According to: bir.org – BIR Bangkok 2025