Page 60 - Plastics News Issue October 2025

BUSINESS NEWS
FUTURE-PROOFING THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY: THE 4 KEY
CHALLENGES INJECTION MOULDERS MUST OVERCOME
ith annual sales turnover of £32.8 bil-
lion, the plastics industry is vital to
Wthe UK economy. A total of 5,700
companies employ approximately 160,000 peo-
ple[1], with many more working in the wider
supply chain across sectors such as healthcare,
automotive, packaging and electronics. Plastics
processers have faced challenges over the past
decade in terms of public perception around
sustainability, as well as increased export and
bureaucracy issues following Brexit. However,
in 2020 the pandemic prompted a change in
fortune – the plastics industry was essential to
the UK fight against Covid-19, with ventilators,
masks, testing kits and more being produced lo-
cally in huge volumes at extremely short notice.
Now, the plastics sector is facing a new strug-
gle on a number of fronts. Reports abound of
UK moulders auctioning off equipment to raise
funds; dealing with workshop capacity of up to
50%; and, in the worst cases, even entering into
liquidation. Here, Sam Carr, ROBOSHOT Sales
60 PLASTICS NEWS
Manager for FANUC UK, outlines the four key
challenges facing UK moulding firms today – and
the steps that can be taken to ensure your plas-
tics business remains competitive in a rapidly
changing world…
Energy costs
This is by far the biggest crisis facing moulding
firms today, and it’s a problem that isn’t going
away. UK plastics processers have faced volatile
and rising energy prices since 2021, and we are
now paying one of the highest rates for energy
across Europe – well ahead of Italy, Germany and
Spain, for example. This makes it difficult for UK
moulders to be competitive on an international
scale; not just when quoting against European
firms, but also those from the Far East.
This alone is crippling some businesses. The fact
is that energy prices are now so high that even
if they do come down, they will not drop to the
levels we were used to seeing back in 2018/19,
for example. Moulders must accept this and
place energy efficiency at the top of their agen-
da. When considering investing in equipment,
look for energy efficient technology as a prior-
ity, such as the FANUC all-electric ROBOSHOT
injection moulding machine.
Reshoring
Reshoring has been a buzzword in the industry
for a few years now, with many moulders bring-
ing production back to the UK from the Far East
and Europe to shorten the supply chain and
close the loop. Following Brexit and the post-
October 2025