The European association of Plastics manufacturers (also known as Plastics Europe) recently released the second edition of "The Circular Economy of Plastics - An Overview of Europe", detailing the production, transformation, consumption and waste management of recycled plastics in Europe in 2020 , recycling and use of plastic life cycle status.

Plastics Europe publishes the second edition of The Circular Economy for Plastics – An Overview of Europe.

According to reports, the production of post-consumer recycled plastics in Europe in 2020 increased by 12% compared to 2018, and their use in new products increased by 15% to 4.6 million tons, indicating that plastics are moving towards a high level of recycling. develop.

The report highlights that the amount of post-consumer plastic waste sent to recycling facilities has also increased by 8% compared to 2018, achieving a 35% recycling rate. However, 65% of post-consumer plastic waste is still sent to landfill and incineration.

Despite the increase in plastic recycling in 2020, progress in recycling needs to accelerate if the medium and long-term recycling targets are to be met, especially if the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) is to be met. And the target set by the EU's Circular plastic alliance, which would require doubling Europe's current recycling capacity.

The European Plastics Manufacturers Association said it was imperative to accelerate systemic change in the plastics recycling industry. The association will also accelerate investment in new technologies, planning to invest 7.2 billion euros in chemical recycling by 2030 to complement mechanical recycling, which will add 3.4 million tons of recycled plastic to Europe in 2030. The association also supports the upcoming revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive, an important piece of legislation that can help speed up the process of recycling plastics.

In addition, the report noted that data gaps remain between plastic consumption and waste plastic collection. The association and its member countries will prioritize working with their value chains to further investigate the root causes of this gap and differentiate between the amount of plastic waste in use and what may not be captured in other waste streams.

The report re-emphasizes that in order to speed up the circular process, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation in value chains and develop a new policy framework to better incentivize investment and innovation to maintain the global competitiveness of the European plastics industry.