Europe’s plastics industry is warning that it stands “on a cliff edge” as production and investment continue to fall, threatening the continent’s competitiveness across the packaging supply chain. Trade association Plastics Europe has urged the EU to take immediate action to stabilise output, protect jobs, and restore confidence among manufacturers and recyclers.
According to new industry data, European plastics production dropped sharply in 2023 and showed only a modest recovery in 2024. The region’s share of global output has now fallen to around 12%, largely due to capacity expansion in Asia (particularly in China). Meanwhile, demand remains subdued across major end-use sectors such as construction, automotive, and consumer goods.
The downturn is hitting the packaging industry especially hard. With high energy and feedstock costs, converters face rising prices for virgin resins while access to high-quality recycled materials becomes increasingly uncertain. Recyclers report plant closures and investment freezes, citing low demand for recyclate, cheap imports, and unclear EU rules for measuring recycled content. Without corrective measures, industry groups warn that Europe could lose close to one million tonnes of annual recycling capacity by the end of 2025.
Plastics Europe and allied organisations are calling on Brussels to treat plastics manufacturing and recycling as strategic industries under the EU’s industrial policy agenda. Their requests include temporary relief on energy and carbon costs, consistent extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules across member states, and stronger trade defences against under-priced imports.
The association stresses that predictable and coherent policy is crucial to unlocking new investment in circular packaging and meeting the EU’s 2030 recycling targets. Without it, Europe risks falling behind in both innovation and sustainability with direct consequences for the entire packaging value chain.
