Global mechanical recycling of plastics is expected to reach 77m t by 2030 despite a slowdown brought about by the coronavirus pandemic during 2020-2022, according to AMI (Bristol / UK; www.ami.international). A new report by AMI entitled “The Global Mechanical Plastics Recycling Industry 2020 – Capacities, Capabilities and Future Trends” shows that about 35.7m t of plastics waste were converted into new products in 2019, with the flexible packaging sector making up 20% of demand, fibre 17% and building/infrastructure 15%. Although PET has the highest capture rate of plastics waste, polyethylene makes up the largest volumes for recyclate production.

AMI forecasts that global consumption of plastics recyclate will be at around 45.6m t by 2025. It also sees growth in certain end-use applications being higher than average, with flexible packaging, fibre and building/infrastructure remaining the top three end-use applications in 2025.

Global waste flows, including plastics, were disrupted in 2018 following China’s ban on certain waste imports (see Plasteurope.com of 26.07.2017 and 20.04.2018). Other Asian countries including India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam followed suit, introducing restrictions after being swamped by a deluge of imports. Except for Southeast Asia, AMI expects all regions to see an increase in recycling capacity by 2030. Between now and 2030, an expansion of recyclate volumes should be absorbed into applications that have so far made little use of it, particularly in Western Europe. The region is leading the way in legislating ambitious recycling targets and recyclate usage, according to AMI. The EU introduced its plastics strategy at the start of 2018 (see Plasteurope.com of 19.01.2018).

This year, the coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted both the volume of waste collected for recycling and demand for recyclate as factories closed or reduced production. Low prices for virgin polymers have further aggravated the situation for plastics recyclers (see Plasteurope.com of 20.05.2020).