European plastic products have seen a 20% increase in post-consumer recycled plastic content

        In 2021, the use of post-consumer recycled content in European plastic products increased by 20%, reaching an average of 10%, but the industry hopes that the government will introduce strong policies to support chemical recycling to accelerate this process.

        The head of the European Plastics Association made this point at the K 2022 press conference. The association also released the "Plastics — The Facts 2022" report. The European Plastics Association said that chemical recycling, like mechanical recycling, is a key lever to increase the circularity of plastics, and emphasized the importance of supporting chemical recycling legislation to encourage investment. Virginia Janssens, executive director of the European Plastics Association, said: "There are a lot of investment announcements in Europe and around the world. We need to ensure that chemical recycling is recognized in legislation at the European level so that investors have a sense of security. ""We need this enabling framework to develop faster. "

        The group said a regulatory system that accepts mass balance criteria, i.e. a system that measures the recycled or renewable content in fossil fuel feedstocks, is important for chemical recycling. In addition to chemical recycling, it is also important to expand traditional mechanical recycling.

        Overview of the European Plastics Industry

        ◆Europe's plastics industry includes plastics manufacturers, processing plants, recyclers and machinery manufacturers. An industry with more than 52,000 companies, most of which are small and medium-sized enterprises, distributed across the EU. In 2021, the plastics industry provided direct employment for more than 1.5 million people in the EU, a slight increase compared to 2020.

        ◆In 2021, the European plastics industry (EU27) had a turnover of approximately 405 billion euros. The European plastics industry (EU27) had a positive trade balance of 14.4 billion euros in 2021.

        ◆In 2020, more than 10 million tons of post-sales plastic waste will be sent for recycling in the EU27+3 countries. The European plastics industry (EU27) ranks 8th in Europe's industrial value added contribution, after electrical equipment manufacturing.

        ◆In 2021, approximately 5.5 million tonnes of post-consumer recycled plastics were reintroduced into the EU27+3 economies, an increase of approximately 20% compared to 2018.

        Use of post-consumer recycled plastics

        Plastics — The Facts 2022 shows that in 2021, European plastic products used 10.1% recycled content, about 5.5 million tons, an increase of 20%. This figure includes recycled plastics used in all European markets, including packaging, housing, construction and automobiles.

        Overview of post-consumer waste plastic recycling

         ◆In 2020, 29.5 million tons of post-consumer waste plastics were collected in the EU27+3;

        ◆The recycling rate of waste plastics is 13 times higher when collected separately than when collected in mixed form;

         ◆From 2006 to 2020, the total amount of waste plastics exported abroad decreased by 50%;

        ◆The plastic recycling rate in the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Germany exceeds 40%.

        Outlook

        The organization is having trouble predicting the outlook for 2023 due to "huge uncertainties" regarding raw material supplies, energy prices and potential shortages. Europe's global competitiveness in plastics is at risk, with European plastic production falling from 23% of the world's total in 2006 to 19% in 2017 and to 15% in 2021.

        Janssens said the European plastics industry is still assessing the impact of the energy crisis and is facing potential production stoppages. By the end of this year, plastic production on the European continent is expected to decrease by 4%, but investment in plastic recycling will continue to advance.