Ineos, Recycled Plastics Producers Call on EU to Safeguard Industry
The European recycled plastics industry has called on the European Union for help and support following a raft of regional closures this year, according to statements released by Ineos and Searious Business, a European circular plastics lobbying company.
Multinational chemical giant Ineos said on Nov. 10 it had raised ten complaints with the European Commission on polyvinyl chloride, mono-ethylene glycol, 1,4-Butanediol purified terephthalic acid, ABS polyethylene glycols, butyl acetate and polyolefins.
It claimed Europe is struggling to cope with a tidal wave of low-cost imports coming from Asia, the Middle East and the United States. These competitive products are produced at far lower production costs compared to European manufacturers, who face some of the highest energy prices and carbon costs in the world.
The company highlighted European Chemical Trade association (CEFIC) data that said imports of chemicals from China surged by 8.3% in the first half of 2025, which entered the European market at a fraction of the European energy cost of production.
Ineos bemoaned the latest trade deal between the EU and the U.S., which in effect eliminates U.S. petrochemical duties – that were previously 6.5% – a deal which Ineos said will make the “imbalance worse, giving away what little protection is had against competitive U.S. imports.”
Ineos said it was also lending support to its customers with their anti-dumping filings in polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as low-priced imports are hitting not just chemical producers but entire value chains.
Europe’s manufacturers have little choice but to seek trade protection for products further down the chain to survive, Ineos said in a statement. It said that the growing number of active Brussels anti-dumping and trade defense investigations underscores the magnitude of the problem Europe faces, as entire industries are now fighting to keep production in the continent and suggested the EC was unable to deal with the trade defense applications that are piling up.
Plastic Recyclers Lend Their Voice to Plea for Help
In the same week that Ineos released its statement, more than 100 plastic converter companies have lobbied the Commission to seek help in closing the gap between virgin and recycled plastics prices.
As part of the Ring the Bell for Recycling campaign led by Searious Business that was presented last week to EU officials, the companies are seeking swift action from Brussels in narrowing this price difference, which is forcing recyclers out of business and harming sustainability targets, according to the Searious Business campaign body.
“If plastic recycling is not a viable commercial prospect, it cannot solve the pollution crisis or help us achieve our climate ambitions— it is doomed to fail,” said Searious Business CEO and founder Willemijn Peeters.
Some 111 signatories campaigned to address cost imbalance and guarantee profitability for recyclers, as well as purchasing demand. They called for fairer market mechanisms and stronger import and quality standards to ensure that industry regulations deliver a competitive European recycling market.
The campaign to lobby the European Commission follows a raft of closures at European chemical and recycled plastic plants amid weak demand and stiff competition from low-cost imports, following significant investment in new mechanical recycling capacity in recent years.
At the end of October, Spanish PET producer Plastiverd said it was closing its facility in Llobregat del Prat, Spain, and the Mol Group, which owns the Remat recycling business in Hungary, also announced the closure of its recycling facilities in Tiszaújváros and Rakamaz, Hungary, as well as in Bratislava, Slovakia.
In addition, as much as around 2.5 million metric tons/year of ethylene cracker capacity is slated to close between 2025-2027.
“The closure of the operations is also part of a broader and concerning trend affecting the plastic recycling sector in Europe,” a Mol Group spokesperson told OPIS Nov. 7.
“Rather than shrinking, the industry should be expanding to meet the EU’s ambitious recycling targets for 2030. To close the gap between the lack of viable business cases for recyclers and the EU’s policy ambitions, urgent policy action is needed. Actions could include the introduction of specific incentives for made-in-EU recyclates or gradual implementation of the mandatory recycled content targets,” the Mol Group spokesperson said.
Searious Business’ Peeters agreed.
“We all know that recycling alone can’t solve the plastic pollution crisis,” he said. “But it remains a vital pillar of circularity — and right now, that pillar is wobbling. Unless Europe creates stable, long-term demand for recycled content, we’ll be left with ambition on paper, and plastic in the environment.”
–Reporting by Miguel Cambeiro, mcambeiro@opisnet.com