A major increase in PET imports threatens the competitiveness of the EU’s industry, along with its objective to improve the waste management of plastics.
PET imports doubled between 2021 and 2022, reaching 1.9Mt, driven by increased demand for rPET in the EU. India, China and Turkey were among the biggest exporters in terms of volumes and value followed by Indonesia, Egypt and Vietnam.
As a result, imports represented nearly 30% of the total demand for PET in Europe in 2022, compared to only 23% in 2020. The rise has been attributed to the 2025 recycled content targets of 25% for beverage bottles, and consequent rise in rPET prices on the continent, it is a market shift that is strongly impacting the European industry.
“Following these concerning market developments, the EU has initiated an anti-dumping proceeding against China for the imports of PET throughout 2022,” said Herbert Snell, PRE PET Working Group vice chair and managing director at Multiport GmbH - MultiPet GmbH, part of the Veolia Group.
The recycled PET is imported into the EU at significantly lower prices. It is therefore vital to ensure the material is compliant with the stringent EU food contact regulations, and does not unfairly disadvantage Europe’s efforts to create a robust rPET industry. According to Casper van den Dungen, vice-president of Plastics Recyclers Europe, this will ‘additionally require full verification of the traceability of imported polymers by end users to avoid using self-declarations as the means of reporting recycled materials participating to the EU targets’.
Enforcement of the EU rules for goods and materials from outside the continent is key to maintaining a level playing field for all actors. Failure to do so will undermine all efforts to promote the circularity of plastic products placed on the market, as well as the substantial investments made in Europe in the recycling industry and its capacities.