Published: May 2020
Global polymer demand has passed 275 million tonnes in 2019, up from only 40 million tonnes in the 1980’s, highlighting the successful market penetration of this relatively speaking, new material. Today the polymer and plastics processing industry is thriving in most countries, but the industry is facing new challenges particularly in more developed markets including the US, Europe and North East Asia. Despite these challenges the outlook for the global plastics industry is positive with recyclates increasingly taking share from virgin polymers in many applications.
The plastics recycling industry has never been under the spotlight to such a degree as it is today. Sustainable development has been gaining in importance and plastics waste is at the forefront of many regional and national policy debates in the drive towards a more circular economy. The issue of plastic waste is increasingly on the agenda of governments around the globe, with new policies and legislation bringing new targets for plastics recycling, reuse and landfilling but implementation at national level remains a challenge. To meet the industry targets will require the development of a new supply chain, investments in capacity, closed-loop recycling and sorting technology.
This global report on the mechanical plastics recycling industry provides a comprehensive analysis of the recycling industry across 8 geographic regions with a focus on 5 commodity polymers; rPE, rPP, rPET, rPVC and rPS.
The report describes and quantifies the supply/demand dynamics for recyclates including an evaluation of capacity, and it provides a detailed end use segmentation highlighting potential future absorption and new market opportunities for recyclates.