The importance of the circular economy is undisputed by many, but when there is a drop in prices for new material as is currently the case, only the lowest cost matters to plastics processors.

This puts many plastics recyclers in a tight spot, according to Dirk Textor, chairman of the plastics recycling specialist division of the German association for secondary raw materials and waste disposal bvse (Bonn; www.bvse.de). He was addressing the media at the organisation’s 25th International Waste Plastics Day, which hosted more than 300 participants attended the industry meeting in Dresden, Germany on 6-7 June.

The market for used plastics and recyclates is in a deep crisis, Textor said, noting that demand is so low that production has been limited or shut down in some places and that the stocks of regrinds, regranulates, and compounds are growing steadily. According to Textor, the weak demand is plaguing markets, especially in the construction sector. He said that this applies equally to all plastics, but that the situation is particularly precarious for PET recycling. As Textor put it, there is currently no sign of an end to the “brutal price war” between new and recycled plastics. As a result, he said “it is almost impossible to operate the recycling plants economically.”

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As the latest examples of the structural crisis in plastics recycling, the trade association chairman cited the Veolia PET Germany plant in Rostock, which is scheduled to close by the end of 2023 and German film recycler FVH Folienveredelung Hamburg, which stopped production in Schwerin on 1 May 2023.

Textor said the main problem is the “refusal” of the plastics processing industry to purchase recyclates. He added that by relying almost exclusively on virgin material, the sector is being short-sighted. The recycling expert complained that while the German plastics industry had celebrated the launch of a climate protection Initiative, processors relying on cheap new material with a big carbon burden and ignoring more climate-friendly plastics recyclates. He also appealed to packers and distributors to pay more attention to the recycling-friendly design of plastic packaging.

Thomas Probst, a representative of the bvse, criticised the lengthy, bureaucratically complex and expensive approval procedures in the recycling industry in particular. He added that plastics recycling is currently also practically excluded from financial support, which leads to distortions of competition in the European Single Market. The EU’s climate goals and the European Green Deal contradict goals in that the production of new raw materials is classified as eligible for financial support while manufacturing of secondary raw material is excluded.

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In principle, from the point of view of the German SME sector, Probst welcomed the draft of the European Packaging Regulation (PPWR). However, he added that specific regulations and measures are lacking, and that the sometimes very long timeframes are also an obstacle for the circular economy. With regard to recycling quotas, Probst pointed out that postponements of up to five years are permitted, and that a review of the achieved targets of the regulation is only set to take place after eight years.

Finally, the recycling specialist called for recyclates from food packaging to be cleared for use not only in the food sector, but also for non-food packaging and other high-value applications, such as in the vehicle manufacturing and E&E.