Plastics

A new report, commissioned by the Rethink Plastic alliance, ECOS and Zero Waste Europe, exposes serious methodological failures in a recent study by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) on plastics recycling technologies.

Fast-paced growth of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) recycling came to a halt, with capacities plateauing in 2023. This finding is highlighted in the latest report1 released by Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) in collaboration with ICIS, providing detailed data on production, collection, and recycling for the EU 27+3 region.

Doğa PET, a recycling venture by Doğa Holding, is using Tomra Recycling’s sensor-based sorting solutions to produce high-quality PET flakes and rPET granules which are suitable for food and textile applications.

Plastics Recyclers Europe has established a new Dissolution Taskforce to reflect the technological advancements in the industry, following the collaboration with DROP-IN — Dissolution Recycling of Plastics Initiative.

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) and RecyClass have published the second progress report of their collaboration, which aims to accelerate the global harmonisation of plastic recyclability.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biocompatible and biodegradable plastics in soil and marine environments synthesised by a wide variety of microorganisms, which share very similar characteristics with plastics of petrochemical origin.

Recycling of plastics plays a major role in the achievement of the European Union (EU) Green Deal objective, and Member States have to cope with increasingly stricter regulatory framework. In order to promote the use of recycled materials and sustainability of plastic bottle production, pursuant to the legislation, PET bottles must currently contain at least 25% recycled plastic and at least 30% of recycled material must be incorporated in all plastic beverage bottles by 2030.

The Plastics Recycling Show Europe shattered records in Amsterdam with over 500 exhibitors, more than 75 expert speakers, and an all-time high of 13,325 attendees over the two days.

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.

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.

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.”