Recycling capacity for rigid polyolefins in Europe totals 1.7 million tonnes

With a total recycling capacity of 1.7 million tonnes, rigid, post-consumer and post-industrial polyolefins, in particular HDPE and PP, are in the group of the most recycled streams in Europe.

Data collected by Plastics Recyclers Europe, shows the countries with the highest shares of the installed capacity for these streams include: Italy, with a rate of 25%, Germany 22%, and the UK 15%. An additional 22% comes from Spain (13%) and France (9%).

According to the data, in 2018 there were 114 HDPE and PP recyclers located in Europe. The highest number of HDPE and PP facilities can be found in Italy and Spain, while Germany places itself in third place, followed by the UK and France.

Chairman of the HDPE & PP Working Group, Herbert Snell, said: “The demand for the use of recyclates is increasing and shifting towards a wider range of applications which require a new set of specifications. Although the HDPE and PP recycling capacity is steadily growing, in order to meet this new demand and increase the quality, it will be essential to work on advancing collection and design for recycling.”

“It is indispensable to increase recycling of these polymers if we are to reach the new recycling rates. This, in turn, can happen only if a genuine transformation of the production, end of life treatment and collection of these materials is taking place.”

The data for HDPE and PP is supplementing the numbers for the already published recycling capacities for PET (2.1 million tonnes) and PE-LD (2.3 million tonnes) in Europe published in 2018.