{"id":9777,"date":"2025-10-15T03:10:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T07:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.packagingindustrynews.com\/?p=9777"},"modified":"2025-10-15T03:10:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T07:10:32","slug":"europes-plastics-sector-in-crisis-amid-shrinking-global-share","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.packagingindustrynews.com\/?p=9777","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s plastics sector in crisis amid shrinking global share"},"content":{"rendered":"


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New figures in Plastics the Fast Facts 2025 confirm a rapid, ongoing decline in Europe\u2019s plastics competitiveness. \/ Credit: Nutchapong Wuttisak\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

New data from Plastics the Fast Facts 2025<\/em> shows the European plastics industry losing competitiveness as global rivals expand.<\/p>\n

European plastics production in 2024 edged up 0.4% to 54.6 million tonnes after a 7.6% contraction in 2023, yet the region\u2019s global market share fell to 12%, down from 22% in 2006. Industry turnover declined to \u20ac398bn in 2024 from \u20ac457bn in 2022, a drop of 13%.<\/p>\n

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By contrast, global plastics production grew 4.1% last year and 16.3% since 2018, underscoring the EU\u2019s weakening position in the world plastics market.<\/p>\n

Asia now accounts for 57.2% of global plastics output, with China alone producing 34.5%\u2014nearly triple the volume of the entire EU. The figures reinforce a widening competitiveness gap between Europe and faster-growing regions.<\/p>\n

Costs, policy and trade reshape Europe\u2019s plastics landscape<\/h2>\n

Plastics Europe, the industry association, attributes the decline to high energy prices, climate-related taxes and elevated feedstock costs that are pressuring margins and prompting asset sales and closures.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope\u2019s plastics industry stands at a pivotal moment,\u201d said Benny Mermans, President of Plastics Europe, calling for \u201curgent political support and frameworks to reinvigorate investment and secure resilient and competitive supply chains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trade flows are also shifting. The EU-27 negative trade balance in plastic polymers improved from -0.8 Mt in 2023 to -0.2 Mt in 2024, supported by a 10% rise in exports.<\/p>\n

The United States remained the largest source of polymer imports into Europe with an 18.9% share, and the fourth-largest export destination for EU polymers at 7.7%. Industry groups warn that changing global tariff regimes could undermine the fragile improvement.<\/p>\n

Circular economy momentum slows in Europe while Asia accelerates<\/h2>\n

The circular transition\u2014a core plank of EU industrial and climate policy\u2014showed little momentum in 2024.<\/p>\n

Circular plastics accounted for 15.4% of EU production, a ratio shaped more by an 18.9% decline in fossil-based output since 2018 than by strong growth in recycling and bio-based materials.<\/p>\n

Total EU circular plastics production was flat at 8.4 Mt. Mechanical recycling rose 2.7% to 7.7 Mt, chemical recycling held at 0.11 Mt, and bio-based plastics fell 25% to 0.6 Mt amid competition for subsidised biofuels feedstocks.<\/p>\n

Global circular plastics production reached 43.9 Mt in 2024, crossing the 10% threshold of total output for the first time. China produced 13.4 Mt of circular plastics\u2014nearly double Europe\u2019s volume\u2014highlighting the pace of investment and policy support in Asia\u2019s circular economy.<\/p>\n

Calls for an EU clean industrial deal to restore competitiveness<\/h2>\n

Plastics Europe is urging the EU and national governments to address the energy cost gap, tighten enforcement of EU rules at borders, and channel investment into circular plastics production.<\/p>\n

The association backs stronger market-pull measures\u2014such as ambitious recycled-content targets\u2014to stimulate demand for recycled plastics, alongside a proposed Chemicals and Plastics Trade Observatory to monitor flows in real time and support timely trade defence where needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe European plastics industry is at a cliff edge as competitiveness collapses,\u201d said Virginia Janssens, Managing Director of Plastics Europe.<\/p>\n

She argued that Europe must decide whether to \u201cdevelop the world\u2019s first circular plastics system or decarbonise through further deindustrialisation,\u201d and called for rapid implementation of a Clean Industrial Deal to scale mechanical and chemical recycling and revive EU plastics manufacturing.<\/p>\n

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