The global plastics recycling market size is forecast to grow at a 7.71% CAGR from 2024 and reach US$77.89 billion by 2031
(Source: iStock)
The imminent conclusion of the legally binding Global Plastics Treaty in 2024 and the joint release of the Sunnylands Statement by China and the United States send a strong signal to the world for global collaboration in actively addressing plastic pollution. This brings unprecedented development opportunities for the plastics recycling industry.
According to the latest research report from InsightAce Analytics, the global plastics recycling market size is forecast to grow at a 7.71% CAGR from 2024 and reach US$77.89 billion by 2031. Faced with this immense opportunity, end-user brands, plastic product manufacturing companies, recycled plastics and recycling companies are seizing the chance for business growth, while also fulfilling their social responsibilities.
Source: Adsale Plastics Network ()
According to the latest research report from InsightAce Analytics, the global plastics recycling market size is forecast to grow at a 7.71% CAGR from 2024 and reach US$77.89 billion by 2031. Faced with this immense opportunity, end-user brands, plastic product manufacturing companies, recycled plastics and recycling companies are seizing the chance for business growth, while also fulfilling their social responsibilities.
Thanks to its superior plastic waste processing and crude oil substitution capabilities, chemical recycling has been driven by significant investment from leading international petrochemical and processing companies. For example, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has partnered with Plastic Energy, the UK-based chemical recycling company, to advance the processing of mixed post-consumer plastics; ExxonMobil and Sealed Air (SEE) use chemical recycling technology to convert plastic waste into new food-grade packaging; Coperion is supplying a complete system of the chemical recycling of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) to a plastic product manufacturer in Dubai.
In addition to the recycling of fossil-based plastics, there have been new developments in the recycling of bio-based plastics such as polylactic acid (PLA). TotalEnergies Corbion utilizes depolymerization technology to produce Luminy® rPLA, which has up to 30% recycled content, offering performance comparable to virgin PLA.
Notably, China has been developing rapidly in the field of chemical recycling in recent years. For example, Tianjin Bohai Chemical, China Tianying and Jiutai New Material have successively collaborated with international companies like Honeywell to launch chemical recycling projects. Such Sino-foreign collaboration further advances the development of chemical recycling in China. In 2023, Zhejiang Jiaren New Materials made the global debut of its recycled dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), filling the gap in China's recycled DMT sector. Many other Chinese companies, including Sinopec, CR Chemical Materials, , CR Chemical Materials, Wanhua Chemical and Beijing Aerospace Petrochemical are also actively implementing chemical recycling projects.
In particular, with the development of bottle-to-bottle recycling solutions and the expansion of food-contact recycled plastics, the PET bottle recycling industry is moving towards efficient and intelligent processing. For example, Starlinger, an Austrian supplier of plastics recycling machinery, has developed the recoSTAR PET system for bottle-to-bottle recycling, which saves 25% of energy consumption, increases production by 15%, and helps reduce production costs by approximately 21%.
Flexible packaging has long been identified as a challenge in plastics recycling. In recent years, leading global food brands, packaging suppliers, and recycling technology providers have joined forces to promote the circular use of flexible packaging. Mondelēz International and Amcor have built Australia's first chemical recycling facilities, processing 20,000 tons of plastic waste annually, with Mondelēz International reapplying recycled materials to product packaging. Nestlé has invested £7 million in Impact Recycling, a UK recycling technology supplier, to establish a new plant that converts hard-to-recycle flexible packaging into plastic pellets for reuse in flexible packaging production.
In fact, many automotive plastic suppliers have begun actively exploring and implementing the use of recycled plastics with automakers and automotive component manufacturers. Eastman has partnered with global automotive interior supplier Yanfeng to recycle plastics from ELVs and produce polyester and cellulose thermoplastics. Toray Industries has successfully recovered glass fiber reinforced nylon 6 from ELVs with chemical recycling technology and reapplied the recycled materials in new Honda vehicles. Chinese companies Shanghai Pret Composites Co. and VARY New Material have teamed up to develop high-quality post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials for automotive applications.