Major players such as ExxonMobil, Sabic, LyondellBasell, Versalis are reviewing or closing facilities because the market is being distorted by a wave of cheap imported virgin plastics, especially from Asia.
Recycled plastic: even when it’s higher quality and lower carbon is being priced out.
In early 2024, France proposed a ban on counting imported low-grade recyclate towards EU packaging targets. That’s not just policy fine-tuning; that’s the alarm bell ringing.
French recyclers call the influx an “existential threat” to Europe’s circular economy. Plastics Recyclers Europe says over 20% of all polymers used in the EU are now imported, virgin or recycled. Domestic recyclers are seeing volumes drop 5% under pricing pressure and dwindling competitiveness.
The truth is - until recycled content is mandated and cheap virgin imports are taxed back to reality, investing in polymer recycling is like betting on a horse that’s been strapped to the starting gate.
If Europe is serious, we need:
* Mandated recycled content across all polymers, not a PPT
* Plastic Packaging Tax reform – higher rates, wider scope
* Anti-dumping tariffs on under-priced virgin imports
* PRN system overhaul – stop rewarding exports over domestic reprocessing
* Real infrastructure investment tied to guaranteed offtake
Be warned - a petrochemical giant can collapse a foreign recycling market simply by flooding it with ultra-cheap virgin polymer. Sadly, this isn’t a hypothetical - the warning lights are already flashing in neon - plastic fantastic - link - news - link - more like this (plastic) - link
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