Up to 300 new sorting and recycling plants for plastic waste will be commissioned in Europe by 2025, according to a new study that predicts the continent’s recycling industry is poised for a period of significant growth.
The research by Cologne-based consultancy ecoprog GmbH predicts plants with the capacity to process 5.2 million tonnes of plastic waste will be commissioned over the next 10 years. The surge in investment will result in an increase of 25 per cent on the almost 1,200 plastic sorting and recycling plants active in Europe today.

FURTHER READING

The main market driver is expected to be the EU Waste Framework Directive, which introduced the “polluter pays principle” and requires member states to re-use or recycle at least 50 per cent of certain household wastes, including paper, metal, plastic and glass, by 2020. However, almost no EU member state has yet reached this goal and a number, including the UK, are thought to be at risk of missing the target.
“Within the waste management sector, recycling will thus be the most important growth markets in the next years” said Marcel Siebertz, consultant at ecoprog GmbH and lead author of the study, in a statement.
The report noted that several European countries still incinerate much of their waste. Switzerland, for instance, only recovers 10 per cent of plastic waste, with the rest being incinerated.
In the UK, legislation now requires authorities to collect waste paper, metal, plastic and glass separately from other household waste. The UK has some of the largest active plants in Europe, with an average capacity of 59,000 tonnes a year. This is due to plastic collection in the UK often being made through a mixed recyclables bin which includes paper, metal and even glass, which means larger processing plants are needed to sort the waste.
In related news, a new report this week revealed 57 per cent of PET bottles and containers placed in the market were recycled in 2014 – equivalent to 66 billion 1.5 litre PET bottles.
The results came from a Europe-wide survey among actors involved in the collection, sorting and recycling of PET, carried out by PCI PET Packaging Resin & Recycling Ltd for Petcore Europe. Patrick Peuch, executive director of Petcore Europe, said the recycling of PET has been a success story over the past 25 years and still continues to increase.
“PET is by far the most recycled plastic material in Europe,” he said in a statement. “However, we can do even better and actively contribute to the European Circular Economy, especially as PET now penetrates new applications.”
Source: Recycling BG