Page 39 - Plastics News December 2025
P. 39
BUSINESS NEWS
GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR PLASTICS RECYCLERS
IN CONTINUED TOUGH MARKET
He added: “We invested, we innovated and, most
importantly, we stayed in the game, even when
it hurt. But now it’s time for others to step up
and match that commitment, from regulators to
producers and brand owners, because without
a strong recycling industry, there is no circular
economy, but only a circle of good intentions.”
There have been positives, including the “glim-
mer of hope” in news that the European Union
was planning to support recyclers. France’s in-
troduction, in January 2026, of financial incen-
Regulators, producers and brand owners were tives for companies that use recycled content
called on to “step up” their commitments to is another important development, which could
plastic recycling and a circular economy at the set the example for others. In the Middle East,
BIR’s World Recycling Convention in Bangkok. growth is expected as governments push bans
on single-use plastic, and circular economy ini-
ntroducing the Plastics Division plenary ses- tiatives.
sion on 27 October, Henk Alssema, divisional
IPresident and CEO, INVIPLAST (NLD) set out Discussing the current market, Max Craipeau,
the continued challenging market for plastics re- CEO, Greencore Resources Limited (Hong Kong,
cyclers, across almost every region. But he also CHN) called it “an understatement” to say it was
gave a message of hope. “depressed or bad”. The figure of one million
tonnes of plastics recycling capacity lost from
Delegates heard that, by the end of 2025, near- Europe over two years, had happened in just
ly one million tonnes of recycling capacity will one year, he argued, if you combined shutdowns
have disappeared from the market in Europe across Europe, Asia and the US. He pointed out
over a two-year period. Virgin prices remain low, that most of these were not PET-related, but for
squeezing margins and pushing recycled mate- polymers such as PP and PE.
rial out of the market, while economic growth is
slow. The “major culprit” in the sector’s loss of capaci-
ty, said Mr Craipeau, was cheap oil. He disagreed
Mr Alssema said: “It’s the same story every- with the view that material from Asia, North Afri-
where: low virgin prices, thin margins and too ca and South America imported into Europe was
little certainty to invest. When times get this responsible for shutdowns.
tough, it’s easy to lose faith, to think maybe that
this industry has no future. But in my opinion, the “Low price of oil, means low price of virgin mate-
opposite is true. Every circular revolution starts rial, means the user can definitely give up their
in a downturn. When things break down, that’s commitment to use recycled content because
when new ideas break through.” they have an option to get much cheaper mate-
December 2025 PLASTICS NEWS 39
