Plastics recycling has moved beyond environmental policy to become a strategic and geopolitical priority for Europe, according to industry leaders gathered in Valencia for the third edition of PLASREC, AIMPLAS’ International Plastics Recycling Seminar.
More than 100 professionals from across the European recycling value chain met on 10–11 December to assess how tightening regulation, rising costs and fast-moving technologies are reshaping the sector. Over 20 presentations explored whether Europe’s recycling industry can remain competitive while meeting increasingly prescriptive circular economy targets.
Opening the event, Nicolás Molina of the Spanish Federation for Recovery and Recycling (FER) warned that the pace of regulatory change is accelerating faster than the industry’s ability to adapt. “Europe has turned plastics recycling into a geopolitical and strategic issue, driven by increasing regulatory pressure and measures such as the introduction of recycled material in vehicle manufacturing, expected in the coming months,” he said. He added that the forthcoming Industrial Decarbonization Acceleration Law and the new Circular Economy Law would require far stricter controls on traceability, classification and quality. “Europe has decided to retain, transform, and valorize its own waste. A change that will soon become tangible for the industry.”
That pressure was echoed by Óscar Hernández of ANARPLA, who described the current policy environment as a “regulatory tsunami”. Despite European recycling capacity reaching 13 million tonnes, Hernández warned that stagnation, plant closures and competition from low-cost imports and virgin plastics are putting the EU’s 2030 targets at risk. Restoring fair competition and lowering energy costs, he argued, will be decisive for the sector’s survival.
Packaging regulation emerged as one of the most disruptive forces ahead. Cristina Galán of ANAIP outlined how the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will fundamentally reshape packaging design and compliance. From 2026, all packaging placed on the EU market will need to be recyclable under harmonised criteria, with mandatory methodologies for calculating and verifying recycled content. She noted that future implementing acts will also introduce harmonised labelling, including digital formats, and official marking technologies to identify packaging composition. “Design for recycling will no longer be a recommendation: it will be a legal requirement,” Galán said.
Concerns about competitiveness were underlined by Irene Mora of Plastics Europe, who presented data showing a sustained decline in European plastics production. Since 2018, output has fallen by 12.4%, while nearly 3,000 companies have closed since 2022 and around 35,000 jobs have been lost. As regions such as China continue to expand capacity, Mora warned that Europe is entering a critical phase just as the PPWR comes into force. “The industry needs legal certainty and fair conditions to compete. Without this, it will be difficult to meet the circularity targets for 2030 and 2050.”
Beyond regulation, the seminar focused heavily on technology as both a constraint and an opportunity. Sessions on waste collection and sorting highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence and computer vision in improving material recovery and quality. Roberto Paredes of SOLVER IA described how AI-driven systems are transforming plant efficiency, while cautioning that high investment costs and data integration remain significant barriers. Daniel Carrero of PICVISA demonstrated how advanced vision systems can recover complex waste streams such as shoe soles, producing a recycled material known as ECOFLAKE. “Computer vision allows us to recover materials that were previously systematically lost. It represents a leap in efficiency in pre-recycling classification,” he said.
Other speakers addressed hard-to-recycle streams including textiles, tyres and composites, as well as emerging approaches to chemical recycling. AIMPLAS researchers and industry partners presented developments in hydrothermal recycling, pyrolysis, enzymatic depolymerisation and first-of-a-kind industrial projects for polyester recycling in Spain, signalling a shift from pilot technologies to commercial deployment.
Yet the tone remained cautious. Adrián Morales of AIMPLAS referred to mounting pressure from plant closures and complex waste flows, while Ángel Martínez of ACTECO described a sector in “war” and operating within a “collapsed system”, even as new technologies promise higher-quality outputs. Several speakers stressed that technology alone cannot deliver circularity unless regulation, markets and infrastructure evolve in parallel.
The event concluded with a cross-sector panel examining whether recycling targets in automotive, electronics, textiles and renewable energy can realistically be met. While participants pointed to promising R&D initiatives and new materials, quality requirements and regulatory uncertainty were repeatedly cited as critical constraints.
PLASREC closed with a clear message: Europe’s ambition to retain and valorise its plastic waste is reshaping the industry at speed. Whether the sector can translate regulatory pressure into industrial competitiveness will depend on how quickly policy, markets and technology can be aligned.
