November 13, 2025 15:07

Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) has published its 2024 industry report, revealing the scale of the crisis gripping the plastics recycling in Europe. The report reflects the performance of a network of around 850 companies employing 30,000 people, and provides figures long awaited by the market to assess the real magnitude of the downturn spreading across the continent.

According to PRE, industry revenue fell by 5.5 percent over the past year, dropping from €9.1 billion to €8.6 billion.
More concerning, however, is the loss of installed capacity due to plant closures, which has reached 1 million tonnes over the past three years. Of that total, 300,000 tonnes were lost in 2024 alone — more than double the 135,000 tonnes recorded in 2023.
Notably, about half of this capacity was lost in just two countries: the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.