EU recycled plastics regulation predicted to impact global demand

China's chemical industries to be particularly affected, according to a new report.

The report from the Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS) and the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation also sas this will have implications across packaging, automotive and textiles sectors.

Driven by the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and upcoming legislation, the study study forecasts a sharp increase in demand for recycled content, particularly for polyethylene (rPE), polypropylene (rPP), and polyethylene terephthalate (rPET).

The study finds that, by 2030, EU producers will require approximately 5.4Mt a year of rPE, rPP, and rPET to meet mandated minimum recycled content targets, which will double to 11.5Mt a year by 2040, driven by regulation across packaging, automotive and fibre applications.

Due to limitations in mechanical recycling, especially for food-safety and performance-sensitive applications, chemical recycling is deemed as being essential to meet the required volumes of recycled polyolefins for packaging.

The study also says that interconnected global trade means EU regulations will influence global supply chains.

According to the report, China will continue to play an important role in EU's plastics supply chain, supplying more than 1Mt/y of recycled plastics by 2040 to meet demand for export-bound finished goods.

Chinese exporters are predicted to shift from reactive compliance to proactive positioning, and EU regulation is seen as a catalyst for China's domestic recycling reforms.

This comes as PackUK, the scheme administrator for the UK's Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging programme, has announced that in year two it intends to specify two sub-categories wihin the category of plastic - rigid and flexible.

These sub-categories apply solely to large producers and compliance schemes reporting on behalf of large producers, and only for packaging supplied in the 2025 calendar year.