According to Kunststoff Information, the European industry association Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) recently published an overview of the European plastics recycling industry for the EU 28+2 in 2019 with its "Report on Plastics Recycling Statistics 2020". According to the report, the industry comprises 600 companies with around 20,000 employees and a total recycling capacity of more than 8.5 million tonnes for all polymers. Turnover was more than Euro 3 billion in 2019. The top recycled polymer was PET with a share of around 30 per cent, followed by PE-LD with 29 per cent and PE-HD/PP with 20 per cent. PVC came in at 10 per cent, PS at only 0.5 per cent. Five European countries - Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain and France - represent 67 percent of the total recycling capacity. According to the report, Germany has the highest installed recycling capacity for PET with 25 per cent and for PE-LD with 15 per cent. Italy, on the other hand, leads in dimensionally stable packaging made of PE-HD and PP with 23 per cent. The total recyclate output in the EU area is stated at around 5 million tonnes. This means that there is still a long way to go to reach the EU Commission's recovery target of 10 million tonnes per year by 2025.

 

Sources:

• KI (24.3.2021)
• Photo: © MultiPet GmbH