Single Market(s) for Recycling: Building Demand for a Circular Future
"No recyclers, no party" – this stark warning from Feliks Bezati of Mars captures the existential challenge facing Europe's circular economy ambitions. As we gather to discuss the future of plastic recycling, the irony is impossible to ignore: 2025 has witnessed the sharpest rise in global tariffs since globalization began, yet Europe's plastic recycling industry finds itself in recession precisely when it should be scaling up to meet the demands of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
The Paradox of Protection and Progress
Recyclers across Europe are sounding the alarm about market dumping of materials with opaque chains of custody, calling for regulatory protection. Meanwhile, the industry faces a fundamental question: how do we build genuine single markets for recycling when global trade dynamics are fracturing?
The answer lies not in competing with virgin materials on price – a battle we cannot win – but in fundamentally reframing how we value recycled content. As Curt Coast aptly noted during our discussions, "I don't think we're ever going to win the battle if we think we're competing with virgin. We need to treat them separately."
From Supply Chain to Demand Chain
Erik Haverkort's insight cuts to the heart of the matter: "What we talk about is a supply chain, but we need to talk about a demand chain." The economics are sobering. Collection and sorting costs far exceed virgin material production, meaning recycled content comes at a premium. Yet by 2030, brands like Mars will need to incorporate at least 10% recycled content – making the demand real and urgent.
The solution? Ecomodulation – harmonized PPWR regulations translated into bonus structures for PCR use and recyclability. Fee modulation alone isn't sufficient, but it helps create the economic conditions for recyclers to cope with their higher operational realities.
Making Recycling Economically Viable
The path forward requires multiple interventions:
Economic incentives matter. Staying in plastic packaging without recycled content should be more expensive through higher EPR fees and plastic taxes. Flexible packaging designed with PCR should command premiums that reflect its environmental value.
Energy costs are crushing recyclers. Rising electricity and utility costs are combating an already struggling recycling market. We need targeted energy policies – perhaps through the Clean Industry Act – that recognize recycling as strategic infrastructure deserving of support.
Investment and stability are essential. The industry needs circular plastics banks bringing together producers, providers, and waste management. We need more investment in recycling streams and EU backing to build a resilient recycling industry – one that's currently contracting when it should be expanding. Long-term contracts would give recyclers the security to invest and scale.
A Philosophy for the Future
The underlying philosophy is elegantly simple: better recycling means using less plastic, which means using less oil. But this philosophy requires institutional support to become reality.
As we navigate rising protectionism and market fragmentation, we must resist the temptation to simply wall off our markets. Instead, we need harmonized standards, transparent chain-of-custody requirements, and demand-side policies that make recycled content the economically rational choice – not just the environmentally responsible one.
Feliks Bezati's warning bears repeating: no recyclers, no party. Without a viable recycling industry, all our circular economy ambitions remain theoretical. The single market for recycling we need to build is one where demand drives investment, where policy supports infrastructure, and where the true environmental costs are finally reflected in economic signals.
The choice is ours. We can continue treating recycled and virgin materials as direct competitors, watching our recycling industry shrink. Or we can build the demand chains, policy frameworks, and investment structures that make circularity not just possible, but profitable.
There is no party – no circular economy, no PPWR compliance, no climate progress – without recyclers. It's time we structured our markets accordingly.