K2025: EU plastics industry ‘has reached crisis point’

Duesseldorf, Germany – Plastics Europe sounded the alarm bells loud & clear at the K2025 expo, 8-15 Oct in Duesseldorf, with the launch of a report showing the “rapid and continuing decline” of the EU plastics manufacturing sector.

According to the industry association, Europe’s global share of the plastics market continued to erode in 2024: collapsing from 22% in 2006 to just 12% last year, while turnover has fallen by 13% since 2022 to €398 billion.

In stark contrast, global plastics production increased 4.1% last year, with Asia now producing over 57% of the world’s plastics. China, added Plastics Europe, alone accounts for 34.5% of output – nearly three times more than the entire EU.

Furthermore, Europe’s past leadership in circular plastics is now being eclipsed by China and the rest of Asia, Plastics Europe noted.

While circular plastics accounted for 15.4% of EU production in 2024, this figure reflects a sharp 18.9% decline in fossil-based production since 2018, rather than a significant expansion in circular production, it explained.

In 2024, total EU circular plastics production remained flat at 8.4 million tonnes (Mt). Mechanical recycling increased by just +2.7% to 7.7 Mt, while chemical recycling remained static at 0.11 Mt, and bio-based plastics declined by 25% to 0.6 Mt – due to the constraint of subsidised feedstock competition from biofuels.

By contrast, global circular plastics production surged to 43.9 Mt in 2024, breaching the 10% threshold of total global output for the first time. China alone produced 13.4 Mt of circular plastics in 2024, nearly double Europe’s volume.

In response, Plastics Europe called for urgent EU and national policy action to address energy cost crisis, strengthen the enforcement of EU legislation at its borders, and promote investment in circular plastics production in Europe.

Europe’s plastics manufacturers, it said, face crippling energy costs, climate-related taxes and high feedstock prices, which are eroding the industry’s competitiveness and accelerating ongoing asset sales and closures.

Europe’s plastics industry stands at a pivotal moment, said Benny Mermans, president of Plastics Europe, noting that while “innovation and investments accelerate on other continents, Europe faces softened turnover and slowed production.

“Our region needs urgent political support and frameworks to reinvigorate investment and secure resilient and competitive supply chains. Swift, decisive action is critical to secure the future of local plastics production and protect the strategic sectors relying on Europe’s plastics industry.”

Read the full Plastics Europe report