Europe produced less non-recycled plastic for the first time

Europe produced less non-recycled plastic for the first time

Europe produced less non-recycled plastic in 2023 compared to 2022, which happened for the first time, but the rest of the planet still produces more such plastic, said the organization Plastiks Evropa (Plastics Europe).

Last year, the 27 EU countries, Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland together produced 54 million tons of non-recycled plastic. This is a drop of 8.3 percent compared to the previous year.

7.1 million tons of recycled plastic were produced, i.e. 7.8 percent less than the previous year, according to statistics published by the professional organization Plastics Europe, which brings together about one hundred companies that produce more than 90 percent of all polymers in Europe.

“These data are contrary to the trend of world production of plastics, which increased by 3.4 percent last year, which indicates that Europe’s share in that production has further fallen and will not reach more than 12 percent in the world market compared to 14 percent in 2022. year”, announced the organization Plastiks Evropa.

Europe maintained a positive trade balance by value, and for the first time became a net importer of polyester resin by volume in 2022 and of finished plastic products from 2021, the text adds.

In the period between 2020 and 2023, European exports of polyester resin fell by 25.4 percent.

The organization adds that this change threatens the sustainability of the European value chain for plastics, which employs more than 1.5 million people in 51,700 companies, and which realized a turnover of 365 billion euros in the EU in 2023.

The main reason for this decline is the sudden increase in imports of polymers that are much cheaper than in Europe, from areas where environmental standards are less strict, such as in Asia, or from countries where energy is much cheaper, such as in the USA.

Plastics Europe believes that “the erosion of European competitiveness threatens the transition of that industry towards circularity”.

Source: Beta

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