Plastics Production In Europe Falls By 8 Percent As Imports Take Bigger Market Share

Manufacturers say the total production of plastics in Europe has fallen by 8.3 percent and that they have seen the first-ever drop in production of mechanically recycled plastics. Plastics Europe, which represents 60,000 companies employing 1.6 million people, said in a statement on Monday, “Europe’s eroding competitiveness threatens our industry’s circular plastics transition.” Cheap imports of plastic from Asia and other places are undercutting European producers’ market share, but these products are often of inferior quality and cannot be recycled, manufacturers say. In December 2018, the European Commission launched the Circular Plastics Alliance, in a bid to boost the European Union market for recycled plastics to 10 million tonnes by 2025....