// Table of contents
Plastics Europe published “The Circular Economy for Plastics” on 19 May 2026. The biennial report covers 2022 to 2024 and contains one figure that explains most of what is happening in the recyclate market right now: annual growth in circular production fell from 13.6% in 2022 to 1.2% in 2024. Circular output did not shrink. It simply stopped growing — at precisely the moment when EU legislation began to require a great deal more of it.
The headline numbers
The report uses the concept of circular production, covering mechanically and chemically recycled plastics as well as bio-based material.
- 8.7 Mt — circular production in Europe, equal to 15.8% of total plastics production.
- 13.6% → 1.2% — the collapse in annual growth between 2022 and 2024.
- 19% — share of European converter demand for circular plastics met by imports.
- 12.4% — share of plastic waste collected in Europe that was recycled outside the region.
The last two figures should be read together. Europe ships part of its own feedstock elsewhere to be processed, while importing roughly one in five tonnes of the recyclate its converters need. That is not a closed loop. It is a loop with two holes pointing in opposite directions.
Why growth stalled
Plastics Europe attributes the slowdown to the competitiveness crisis facing the European plastics system. Association president Rob Ingram summed up the sector’s position in one line: Europe’s plastics manufacturers are in survival mode.
The mechanism is straightforward. Recyclate competes on price with virgin polymer. When virgin is cheap — and it is, on the back of petrochemical overcapacity — recyclate loses the advantage it would hold against expensive fossil feedstock. Recycler margins compress, investment decisions on new capacity slip, and some existing plants leave the market. The result is that 1.2%.
Regulation was meant to close the gap from the demand side. PPWR, applicable since 12 August 2026, sets mandatory recycled content: 30% in single-use PET beverage bottles from 2030, 30% in other contact-sensitive packaging made primarily from PET, and 10% in contact-sensitive packaging made from other plastics. The difficulty is the timing mismatch. The obligation begins in 2030; the investment decisions on capacity to serve it would have to be taken now.
What it means for sourcing
Availability will matter more than price. With circular production growing at 1.2% a year and regulatory targets stepping up sharply in 2030, the binding constraint becomes volume, not rate. Multi-year contracts with committed quantities are currently worth more than a few points of discount.
Imports are already in the balance, not a reserve. If 19% of converter demand is met by imports, the easily accessible non-European buffer has largely been consumed. Assuming you can “buy from Asia if things get tight” rests on a premise that has stopped being true.
Announced capacity is not operating capacity. Investment announcements in European recycling are plentiful; commissioned plants far less so. When assessing a supplier, “how many tonnes did you actually produce last year” is a more informative question than a presentation of planned expansion.
What the report does not cover
The data stops at 2024. It therefore reflects neither PPWR nor the ban on plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries taking effect on 21 November 2026 — a measure expected to keep an additional 500,000 to 800,000 tonnes a year inside the Union.
So 1.2% is not a forecast. It is a snapshot taken before the regulatory shift, not a prediction of what follows it. That distinction matters in board discussions: the figure supports a decision to secure volumes, but used as evidence that “European recycling has failed” it would overstate what data ending in 2024 can show.
Frequently asked questions
What does circular production mean in the Plastics Europe report?
It covers mechanically and chemically recycled plastics together with bio-based material. In 2024 it reached 8.7 million tonnes, or 15.8% of total European plastics production.
Did European recyclate output fall in 2024?
No. Growth slowed rather than output falling. Circular production still increased, but by only 1.2% in 2024 compared with 13.6% in 2022.
Which years does the 2026 edition cover?
The edition published on 19 May 2026 analyses 2022 to 2024. It does not capture the effects of PPWR or the non-OECD export ban, both of which take effect in 2026.
Read next
- Post-consumer recyclate (PCR): what it is and how rPET, rHDPE and rPP are produced
- Chemical recycling in Europe: pilot and commercial plants
- ISCC PLUS and mass balance: how the system actually works
Source: Plastics Europe, “The Circular Economy for Plastics — A European Analysis 2026”, published 19 May 2026, covering 2022–2024.