March 25, 2025 15:42

As it does every year, Milan-based consultancy Plastic Consult has published its annual Plastic Trend Synthesis, offering a comprehensive analysis of demand and supply for the main virgin thermoplastics in the Italian market.

Despite short-term fluctuations, the medium-term trend continues to show a slow decline in consumption, a pattern confirmed once again in 2024.
Last year, demand for major virgin thermoplastic polymers stood just above 5 million tonnes—essentially flat compared to 2023 (–0.2%)—reflecting a chronic structural weakness.
This is a far cry from the 7.15 million-tonne peak recorded in 2007, a level unlikely to be reached again.

To understand why Italy’s plastics market continues to stagnate and what lies ahead, we spoke with Paolo Arcelli, director at Plastic Consult (pictured at Materioteca).