Published November 2022
The introduction of plastics has been an important innovation, with its use as packaging material being a revolution for the industry. However, the rapid growth of plastic packaging has resulted in the need to address the resulting accumulation of plastics waste. This is where plastics recycling—reuse, mechanical and chemical recycling, and energy capture—enters the arena. This report focuses on the global plastics recycling market, especially that of the major thermoplastic resins (mainly postconsumer). This report does not cover thermoset resins. The major plastics that are recycled today continue to be PET, PE, PP, PVC, PS, and EPS. Polyethylene, or PE, is subdivided into HDPE, LDPE, and LLDPE. PET and HDPE remain the major plastics recycled globally.
Plastics recycling can be divided into four categories:
- Primary recycling: The original definition of primary recycling is mechanically recycling material into a product with similar properties as the original product. This definition is used in Europe. The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) current definition of primary recycling is recovery of postindustrial scrap recovered from the manufacturing plant. In most cases, primary recycling is carried out by the manufacturer itself from postindustrial waste. Since postindustrial scrap materials are usually uncontaminated, recycling is a simple process involving re-extrusion of the material.
- Secondary recycling: The original definition of secondary recycling is mechanically recycling material into end-use products of less quality, also referred to as downgrading or downcycling. This definition is used in Europe. The US EPA’s definition of secondary recycling is the use of postconsumer material to make end-use products. This process is also called mechanical recycling.
- Tertiary recycling: The recycled plastic is chemically processed into its petrochemical components such as monomers or oligomers. This process is also called chemical, advanced, and/or feedstock recycling. Tertiary recycling is considered as complementary to mechanical recycling. In the last five years, this process has become of more interest.
- Tertiary recycling: Here, energy is recovered from the recycled plastic by processes such as incineration.
- Quaternary recycling: Here, energy is recovered from the recycled plastic by processes such as incineration.
Based on recent data from OECD, about 14% of global plastics was collected from waste in 2019, but only about 9% was recycled. Of the remaining collected plastic waste, 50% was diverted to sanitary landfills and 19% was incinerated for energy recovery; however, the remaining 22% went to uncontrolled dumpsites, was burned, or was leaked to the global environment. As one can see, there still remains much work to do with plastics recycling efforts. In comparison, recycling rates for steel, aluminum, paper, and copper have been known to exceed 50%.
Trade and legislation regarding plastics recycling and of plastics scrap/waste has become a major global issue in the last five years. Most importantly, mainland China’s ban/restrictions on plastic scrap/waste imports, which was put into complete effect in January 2018, has impacted the entire global plastics recycling industry. This has been one of the most disruptive movements for the global plastics recycling industry to date, which has shifted the global landscape for resource recovery activities.
For more detailed information, see the table of contents, shown below.
S&P Global’s Chemical Economics Handbook –Plastics Recycling is the comprehensive and trusted guide for anyone seeking information on this industry. This latest report details global and regional information, including
Key Benefits
S&P Global’s Chemical Economics Handbook –Plastics Recycling has been compiled using primary interviews with key suppliers, organizations and leading representatives from the industry in combination with IHS Markit’s unparalleled access to upstream and downstream market intelligence, expert insights into industry dynamics, trade and economics.
This report can help you:
- Identify trends and driving forces influencing chemical markets
- Forecast and plan for future demand
- Understand the impact of competing materials
- Identify and evaluate potential customers and competitors
- Evaluate producers
- Track changing prices and trade movements
- Analyze the impact of feedstocks, regulations, and other factors on chemical profitability
