In just a few weeks, once again the most important event in the European recycling world will be held in Amsterdam. For two days – 9 and 10 May- the Amsterdam RAI will provide the backdrop for the European plastic recycling industry to showcase what makes this such an innovative and highly relevant industry today.
When it launched in 2017, the Plastics Recycling Show Europe, to give it its proper name, was an initiative of a tiny team of people, who saw the direction in which Europe was headed. Developments at the European level indicated that momentum was gathering for a new way of thinking about the economy. Finite resources, marine pollution, climate change – the realisation dawned that these were real. And suddenly, circularity became the new credo.
The question that remained for the industry was: how?
At that time, the trade organisations for recyclers started realising just how important their contribution could be to the new drive for circularity. What was lacking was a meeting place: and event where the industry could come together, but also where relevant players and interested parties from outside the recycling industry could become informed and join the plastics circularity discussion. Having previously launched the Plastics Recycling Expo in Telford (UK), Matt Barber, global events director at Crain Communications, saw this could be a springboard for a European-wide event, in collaboration with Plastics Recyclers Europe. From that spark of an idea, PRSE was born. The event launched with relatively modest expectations. Today, it is now the most important plastics recycling event in Europe.
Brief background
Plastics recycling is not a new activity, but it is a sector that for decades operated more or less out of view. That started to change when the European Commission adopted its first circular economy action plan in 2015.
In it, plastics were identified as a key priority and it included targets for landfill, reuse, and recycling, to be met by 2030 and 2035, along with new obligations for the separate collection of textiles and biowaste. Moreover, the Commission committed to formulating a European circular economy plastics strategy - a strategic vision, setting out what a circular plastics economy could look like in the decades ahead.
Take, make, waste
In a linear economy, there is very little incentive to recycle. And indeed, the reuse and recycling of end-of-life plastics in the EU was – and essentially still is - very low, particularly in comparison with other materials such as paper, glass or metals.
In this take-make-waste model, therefore, waste is the end point – it’s why there are such huge volumes of it. And more continues to be generated at a dizzying pace, bringing with a host of problems, from leakage into the environment to the microplastics currently polluting even the air. As a result, the image of plastics and the plastics industry has over the years plummeted to new depths, with consumers and environmental organisations becoming increasingly vocal in their demands for less plastic waste and better waste management. The big brands have taken note, and the European Union has also mounted a response: amongst others, in 2017, by setting a target for recycling 50 percent of plastic packaging by 2025 and 55 percent by 2030. And in 2018 it introduced its European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, with a starring role for the plastics recycling industry.
Recycling moves into the limelight
The impact of Europe’s circular ambitions on the plastics recycling industry cannot be overstated. Having long hovered along the sidelines of the plastics industry the sector was now being pushed into the role of key player in the circular economy.
However, to fulfil this role successfully, the sector needs to implement a few changes of its own. Specifically, the Plastics Strategy called for the better design of plastics and plastic products for easier recycling; better sorting, to improve the purity of the plastic waste streams; improving the separate collection of plastic waste; and the creation of viable markets for recycled and renewable plastics.
A McKinsey report from 2020 entitled The European recycling landscape—the quiet before the storm? noted that recyclers cited unstandardised and poor product recyclability, and the volatility of markets and customer demands as the main challenges to be addressed.
Asked about which factors could improve the attractiveness of the recycling business, the top answer was government incentives, such as mandates for recycled content, followed by public awareness and a shift in mindset to increase the acceptance of recycled material. Competitive pricing with virgin plastics, achieved through taxes being levied on virgin materials or subsidies for the use of recyclates, was also mentioned.
Another additional major concern that has emerged in the past year has been the staggeringly high energy costs, leading some recyclers to temporarily shut down their operations. Briefly, recycling may be the backbone of Europe’s circular ambitions, to succeed, support is essential.
PRSE is a platform
The developments of the past eight years serve to demonstrate the foresightedness of the PRSE founders, as the relevance and role of recycling in the transition to a more circular economic model, in terms of both impact and scope, has deepened.
As an exhibition, the PRSE offers a comprehensive overview of the technologies and equipment available in the sector today; as a conference, it addresses an extensive range of issues – from the technological to the regulatory - confronting the industry. From legacy additives and compatibilisers to food contact regulations and sustainability targets and ambitions, the PRSE dives into those areas that directly affect recyclers and their activities and creates a platform for information exchange and networking.
This year, for the first time, in keeping with the PRSE’s goal of fostering awareness and facilitating knowledge transfer, attention will also be given to chemical recycling – still a controversial topic but very definitely one that is increasingly being seen by many as a complementary route to reaching the EU’s recycling targets and to tackling the massive challenge of plastic pollution.
