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The winners of the eighth annual Plastics Recycling Awards Europe were announced at the Plastics Recycling Show Europe in Amsterdam. The 2025 winners exemplify the best advances in the use of recycled plastics in products, as well as the latest innovations in technology and machinery that facilitate plastics recycling.

Clothing, fashion accessories and cosmetics are some of the worst performing product categories when it comes to consumer perceptions about how effectively they are tackling the amount and recyclability of packaging used in the UK. This is according to new research by Aquapak, which specialises in developing high performance, environmentally safe materials to reduce plastic pollution and improve recycling,

The growing volume of packaging waste has evolved into a significant global issue, with estimates showing that up to 91% of this material ends up in landfill or incinerators. This leads to underutilised resources and increased CO2 emissions. A portion of the remaining waste contaminates the environment, contributing to plastic pollution, the degradation of ecosystems, and even entering the food chain in the form of microplastics.

A series of new studies reveal alarming levels of dioxins, PFAS, and heavy metals in the environments surrounding waste incinerators in Spain, France, and The Netherlands.

Recent findings from Spanish plastics technology centre Aimplas confirm that flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl), widely used in medical devices, can be mechanically recycled up to six times without compromising its technical properties.

While prevention measures are gaining momentum, more effective efforts at national level are needed to tackle the huge problem of food waste, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report. The assessment gives an update on waste prevention measures across the EU. Preventing food waste is both urgent and necessary, given the high impacts of food waste on climate change, but also to protect biodiversity, reduce pollution and enhance food security, it says.

EuRIC’s Textiles event, held in Brussels on 27 March, brought together sorters, recyclers, manufacturers, retailers, policymakers, academics, and circularity experts to address the need for bridging the gap between policy and industry in the textile sector. The event emphasised the need for a systemic shift towards a circular economy, with a strong focus on legislative action and innovation.

In 2014, Umweltdienste Kedenburg took over a sorting plant for packaging waste on the site of a former cement works in Beckum. Ten years later, Beckum Kunststoff Recycling GmbH, a cooperation with Otto Graf GmbH, built a second plant at this site, where coal was once stored for cement production. Today, sustainable recycled plastic is produced here, making it a great example of how the circular economy transforms historical industrial sites. Klaus Kuhlenbeck, Technical Director of the facility, describes the project as an investment in the circular economy: “Our goal is clear: to sort and process plastic films to such a high level that we can create new products out of them.”

In the autumn of 2013, Harald Hoffmann together with Manuel Lindner, owner of the Lindner Group, founded Lindner Washtech. Hoffmann’s vision of designing complete solutions for processing plastics – initially under his sole leadership – led to the company becoming one of the key stakeholders in plastics recycling, and to a partnership with the Erema Group since 2023. In January 2025, Georg Krenn took on the sole management of Lindner Washtech. Harald Hoffmann remains a permanent part of the company, contributing his expertise in the role of Senior Advisor Global Sales.

Spreads of close to €600/tonne between recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) food-grade pellet (FGP) and virgin PET are seeing some brands cutting back recycled content use as cost-saving remains key in 2025.

Tomra Recycling has expanded its portfolio of advanced metals recycling with a groundbreaking AI-based solution to upgrade wrought aluminum scrap.

A new version of the recyclability methodology has been published in anticipation of upcoming legislative changes. This update ensures continuous support for the plastic value chain in the transition towards circularity.