Like Europe itself, the plastics industry is growing closer together. For the first time, the plastics manufacturers association PlasticsEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticseurope.org) has published comprehensive figures on production, consumption and recovery of plastics for the entire European Economic Area, including EU25 and Norway and Switzerland. It also adds a few comparative figures for NAFTA.

According to the report "Compelling Facts about Plastics 2006", plastics consumption across Europe rose by 4% to 49.5m t in that year, compared with 47.5m t in 2005. This exceeded average growth in GDP by 50%. Consumption in western Europe (EU15, Norway and Switzerland) only managed to grow by an average of 3.5% in 2006 compared with 2005 – although Germany, Austria and Portugal all saw increases of 6%. Plastics markets in the new EU member countries in the east were more dynamic, expanding by around 12%.

On a global scale, demand for plastics rose to 245m t, equivalent to a growth rate of just under 4.3%. Per capita consumption in 2006, at around 100 kg, was the same in NAFTA and western Europe. By 2010, the figure is expected to reach about 120 kg per head in the two regions. By contrast, the present average per capita consumption in Asia (excluding Japan) is just 20 kg, so that this region offers the highest potential for future growth. Current per capita consumption in the new EU member states is 55 kg. The central-eastern Europe region, which includes some of these countries, is only 24 kg altogether. However, PlasticsEurope forecasts expansion of 7.2% annually for this region up to 2010, above the European average.

In the world production rankings, the European Economic Area has now dropped to the number two position behind Asia, accounting for a quarter (60m t) of global plastics production. While this seemed to be a given fact, it is now confirmed by official statistics. Interesting to note, especially in view of the fact that is Europe is still a net feedstock exporter. The leading plastics-producing country is still Germany, accounting for 8% of global output, followed by Benelux (5%), France (3%), Italy (2%) and UK and Spain (1.5% each).

German also tops the list in volume of plastic processed, with Italy in second place. Together, the two countries account for 40% of total European plastics processing, equivalent to a volume of just under 20m t. Among the recent additions to the EU, the report singles out Poland. Here, polymer production of around 2m t has already caught up with The Netherlands and moved it ahead of Portugal, Austria and Switzerland, for example. Volumes produced in the Czech Republic and Hungary are only about half the volume of Poland’s output, the study says.

Half of all European post-consumer plastics wastes is recovered and recycled, either mechanically or for energy recovery, according to PlasticsEurope. Altogether, the recovery rate increased by 3% in 2006 compared with 2005. Mechanical recycling grew to 19.1% from 18%, while energy recovery climbed to 30.3% from 29%.

Seven countries, representing 29% of the European Economic Area population and including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland, recovered more than 80% of their waste plastics, taking them very close to completing their "diversion-from-landfill" strategy. Half of all EU member countries, however, still have a recovery rate below 30%. This reflects in some cases the slow political progress and the long preparation times to put recycling methods into practice – especially energy recovery.

Despite mounting volumes of post-consumer waste, the volumes going to landfill are declining. As a result of economic development and also because plastics are increasingly substituting traditional materials in many areas of application, the volume of post-consumer waste rose by 1m t or 4% in 2006 compared with 2005 Because of the significant progress made in mechanical recycling and energy recovery, however, the volume of landfilled plastic waste decreased simultaneously by 1%. These figures illustrate that economic growth is not directly linked to growing piles of post-consumer waste.

Mechanical recycling has become increasingly popular as a result of higher feedstock prices, improved collecting and sorting techniques and rising demand. According to PlasticsEurope, this is due both to the swelling of conventional waste streams such as bottles and packaging film, but also to growth in the recycling of items such as window frames. In some countries, capacities for full closed-loop recycling have been created. Energy recovery, too, continued to grow in 2006.

e-Service:
PlasticsEurope brochure "The Compelling Facts about Plastics – An analysis of plastics production, demand and recovery for 2006 in Europe" (status: January 2008) as a PDF document (1.311 KB)