Plastics

Extract BIR Annual Report 2025

Recyclers have walked the walk – now others must do the same

There is no way of sugar-coating the stark truth: 2025 was one of the most disappointing years in the history of our industry. After decades of steady if somewhat irregular growth, plastics recycling actually went into reverse last year.

Nowhere was this more evident than in Europe. As I explained to delegates attending our plenary session in Bangkok last October, the two-year period to the end of 2025 was likely to witness the loss of nearly one million tonnes of recycling capacity across Europe. And according to my fellow board member Max Craipeau of Greencore Resources, this loss of one million tonnes happened in just a single year if you combine shutdowns in Europe, Asia and the USA.

In Europe, the combination of low virgin prices, poor demand for recycled materials and lacklustre economic growth has served to squeeze margins for recyclers faced with rising costs of collection, sorting, processing, distribution and labour. Payment terms can no longer be maintained in many cases such that companies are unable to pay each other, thus triggering even more bankruptcies. At the same time, we have had to contend with wavering support from a disturbing number of customers, with many large brands diluting or dismissing earlier recycled content pledges because of the financial advantages of returning to abundant, low-cost virgin materials.

Facing a historic contraction in recycling capacity

In the face of so many negatives, it would be understandable if recyclers opted to padlock the gates and direct their skills into more lucrative business channels. But the history of this industry says otherwise: when times are tough and our faith in recycling is being fully tested, recyclers have always continued to innovate and to invest in anticipation that change will occur, markets will shift, conditions will improve and opportunities will arise.

Even in Europe, the new year offers us grounds for optimism. The very first day of 2026 saw the implementation of a new decree in France which introduces minimum recycled content requirements for producers of certain plastic products and packaging, as well as financial incentives for companies exceeding these thresholds. Many other European countries will be keen observers of this French initiative which, if successful, could spark similar developments elsewhere.

In the same spirit of positivity, my fellow board member Sally Houghton of the PET Recycling Corporation of California has spoken of “exciting times” in the USA where an increasing number of states are adopting extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation in a bid to tackle the challenge of plastic packaging. And as we learned at our plenary session in Bangkok from Patcharin Thamasirianunt of Union J Limited, Thailand is among the many other countries considering proposals to introduce measures such as EPR and design for recycling.

Regulatory catalysts and the shift toward mandatory content

If brands have no choice but to incorporate a certain proportion of recycled content, then a ready demand is created for our industry’s products and the entire pricing structure shifts in our favour. And given the greater commercial certainty that this would create, large-scale investment in the recycling infrastructure would again become attractive and sustainability goals would be brought back within reach.

Rather than the downward spiral we are seeing at present, we would complete the virtuous circle and create the conditions in which recycling can realise its full potential.

If our markets went backwards in 2025, then efforts at the United Nations to develop a Global Plastics Treaty appeared to do little more than tread water. As outlined by

BIR Trade & Environment Director Alev Somer at our meeting in Valencia, the “waste” element has divided the negotiating committee into two groups: those pushing for the treaty to be legally binding and covering the entire life-cycle of plastics; and those who want only an “end-of-life” remit for the treaty, with commitments limited to being voluntary in nature.

Advocating for a holistic Global Plastics Treaty

Of course, BIR’s advocacy efforts are channelled into supporting the holistic, all-embracing approach to the management of plastics. We need to reconnect with that greater buzz around plastics recycling experienced only a few short years ago. As I explained in Bangkok, our industry has invested, innovated and stayed in the game against all the odds. So the moment is now for others – from regulators to producers and brand owners – to step up to the plate and match our commitment into the long term.

“It would be understandable if recyclers opted to padlock the gates and direct their skills into more lucrative business channels. But the history of this industry says otherwise.”

Henk Alssema

INVIPLAST (NLD)
PLASTICS DIVISION PRESIDENT

IMPORTANT FACTS

Available today in many shapes and forms, plastics have become part of everyday life. However, their popularity and almost endless applications present a series of challenges for the recycling industry. Certain post-consumer products contain as many as 20 different types of plastic material. This widespread use of all kinds of plastic makes it difficult to collect large enough quantities of certain types to render recycling viable. At the same time, each variety has a particular molecular composition and, as a result, a different recycling process must be employed. Identification and separation technologies are crucial for efficient and effective plastics recycling.

Recycling helps to reduce energy consumption, air/water pollution and also the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills. Plastics are polymers composed primarily of petroleum, thus the recycling industry plays an important role in preserving this vital natural resource. At the same time, issues surrounding plastics waste, and particularly the effects of single-use plastics on the marine environment, have been regularly catapulted into the world media spotlight.

The reality is that plastics recycling offers plenty of upside potential. Global plastics production approached 350 million tonnes in 2017. According to the OECD environmental policy paper of September 2018 entitled “Improving Plastics Management Trends, policy responses, and the role of international co-operation and trade”, plastic recycling rates are between 14 and 18% at the global level. The remainder of plastic waste is either incinerated (24%) or disposed of in landfills or the natural environment (58-62%). Also in 2018, however, the United Nations put the global recycling rate for plastics at just 9%.

Plastic recycling rates vary significantly across different countries, as well as by waste stream and polymer type. Recycling rates in the European Union average 30% but are thought to be considerably higher in some member states, according to the OECD paper. However, it adds, plastic recycling rates in other high-income countries are typically of the order of 10%.

RECYCLING PROCESSES

SORTING

GRINDING

COMPOUNDING

Recycling plastics requires a series of chemical and mechanical procedures:

Sorting: This critical part of the process can be performed both manually and mechanically.

Shredding and compacting: When necessary, sorted plastics are shredded into smaller pieces and baled to facilitate handling and transportation.

Washing: Scrap plastic goes through various mechanical processes to remove dirt. It is then washed and ground into smaller flakes. Flotation tanks are also used to separate plastics from contaminants.

Melting: Plastic is either melted down or shaped into granulates or pellets.

Reforming: The granulates are shipped to manufacturing plants where they are made into new products.

THE SORTING CHALLENGE

The biggest problem with plastics recycling is that it is labour-intensive because of the difficulties of automating the sorting process. Numeric codes are used to indicate different types of plastic. Mechanical sorting processes using spectrometry and other technological innovations have helped to increase plastic recycling capacities and efficiencies.

Containers are usually made from a single type of plastic, making them relatively easy to sort. But mobile phones, for example, usually have various components made from different types of plastic. Research and development programmes have been designed to improve disassembly technologies and to increase the recovery and recycling rates of plastic-containing products.

APPLICATIONS

Unlike with metals, recycling usually affects the physical properties of plastics to some extent. This makes it difficult to recover large amounts of certain types of plastic for use in the same applications for which they were originally produced. Thanks to recycling companies’ intensive research and technological developments, recycled plastic can be used in almost as many applications and products as those using virgin materials.

These are just a few products that can be made from recycled plastic:

Polyethylene bin liners and carrier bags
Plastic bottles
Flooring and window frames
Building insulation board
Garden furniture and fencing
Garden sheds and composters
Seed trays
Fleeces
Fibre filling for sleeping bags and duvets
Office accessories
Parts for the car industry
Pipes and crates

RECYCLING MARKET VARIATIONS AND SHIFTS

Various researchers believe the global plastic recycling market will register a compound annual growth rate of well over 6% in the coming years, pushing its value from approaching US$ 40 billion at present to nearer US$ 60 billion by the middle of the next decade.

Of the 300 million tonnes of plastics waste generated in 2015, only around 14 million tonnes (or 4%) was exported outside the country of origin. Imports of plastics waste are concentrated in a small number of countries; for many years, China imported more than half of the internationally-traded plastics scrap. However, the market has undergone massive disruption of late as the introduction of severe new restrictions led to a 99% drop in Chinese imports of plastic scrap in 2018. Initially, other Asian countries increased their imports hugely but a number have since implemented bans or import restrictions of their own.

Reflecting the supreme adaptability of the recycling industry, this loss of key overseas markets for scrap has led to the development of new plastics recycling capacities, particularly in the major traditional exporting regions of the world such as North America and Europe. This trend benefits the environment because more plastic scrap is processed closer to its point of origin rather than being shipped potentially vast distances for recycling, thereby saving resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The plastics recycling industry helps protect the environment by supplying other sectors - for example, packaging producers - with quality, often tailor-made recycled resins for incorporation into their products, thereby helping to build a circular economy where resources are kept within the usage loop for as long as possible. The recycling industry can also provide valuable expertise at the design stage to help ensure that products are made with their recyclability in mind.

RECYCLING FACTS

Recycling 6 PET bottles produces enough fibre for one T-shirt.
The global plastic recycling market is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of well over 6% in the next few years.
According to the OECD, plastic recycling rates are between 14 and 18% at the global level. However, the United Nations puts the global recycling rate for plastics at just 9%.

Plastics

Recyclers have walked the walk – now others must do the same

Facing a historic contraction in recycling capacity

Regulatory catalysts and the shift toward mandatory content

Advocating for a holistic Global Plastics Treaty