— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

Another year is on the way out – and 2025 has been one for the books. The time has come once again to weigh up the European plastics industry and related sectors with Plasteurope.com’s annual Year-Ender series. Just like last year, in the lead up to the twelve days of Christmas, we’re bringing you an analysis of the past twelve months along with what to expect in 2026. Our aim, as always, is to support you in developing business strategies for the year ahead amidst the ongoing trends, challenges, and transformations within our industry – right from the top of your Plasteurope.com newsletter each morning.

This year, from 15 to 19 December, five gifts are coming your way. We’ll kick things off on Monday with our usual Year-Ender on the European economy. Overall economic activity looks set to cool next year, in both the EU and the UK, though the good news at least is that a recession isn’t on Europe’s horizon. Eurozone GDP is expected to improve, rather, with several member states looking forward to growth, including some optimism next year for the bloc’s largest economy, Germany, in comparison against 2025. Central and Eastern Europe, meanwhile, are looking at a recovery, while economic expansion in the UK is expected to slow.

There of course can be no talk of economies without addressing the elephant in 2025’s trade room. As US President Donald Trump said, “‘Tariff’ is the most beautiful word in the dictionary,” and in PIE’s Year-Ender on one of the year’s most volatile phenomena, we ponder whether Trump meant “ugly-beautiful”, as cross-border duties brought on nothing but misery, bridled by confusion, for world trade – his home country included. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

In the middle of the week, we’ll dive into polymer prices. If 2025 taught Europe’s polymer industry anything, it’s that “rock bottom” has layers: PET and styrenics hit new lows, polyolefins languished under global oversupply, and demand from packaging, construction, and automotive flatlined. Together, these pressures left the sector bruised by imports, regulation, and shrinking margins heading into 2026.

Following this, we’ll zoom in on recyclate and how the overall recycling market fared. The European plastics recycling industry is looking back at a turbulent year. The sector saw its sharpest decline yet as growth stalled, lost capacities rapidly approach the million-tonne mark, and unchecked imports continue to flood the EU market. Price pressure, especially against virgin materials, remained intense. Standard recyclates held up slightly better, but engineering grades were hit hard. Still, it’s not all bleak: accelerating regulations should lift demand, and talks with Brussels on targeted relief are reportedly under way. Plastics Recyclers Europe president Ton Emans says the industry has consistently demonstrated its resilience – a trait that could prove decisive.

Wrapping things up in our final Year-Ender for 2025, long-time Plasteurope.com contributor and energy expert Dimitrios Koranis will provide insight into the development of the European energy market over the course of the past year and how electricity and gas prices, among other things, are likely to trend in 2026.

With that said, keep an eye on the Plasteurope.com homepage – and your inbox – each morning throughout next week to see what was and foresee what will be for the European economy, the global impact of tariffs, polymer price trends, as well as the recyclate and energy markets.

We wish you an calm end to the year, happy holidays, and hope you enjoy reading our Year-Enders 2025!