**The Emerging Chemical Recycling Sector: Obstacles and Prospects in Europe and the United States**
The chemical recycling sector, still emerging, seeks to convert plastics into oils or basic monomers that can be utilized to produce new materials. Nonetheless, the industry is encountering contraction in both Europe and the United States as recyclers advocate for policy stability to enhance investment attractiveness.
Maria Vera Duran, policy director at Recycling Europe, underscores the larger structural crisis influencing the entirety of Europe’s plastics recycling sector, inclusive of both mechanical and chemical processes. This crisis has resulted in a deceleration of plastic recycling growth and an increase in the export of sorted plastic waste. A report from Plastics Europe reveals that 70% of EU plastic waste is directed towards incineration or landfills, with nearly 20% of recycled plastics generated in the EU reliant on imported materials. Plastics chemically recycled constituted a mere 0.2% of European production in 2024.
Lee Hodder, managing director for carbon capture and circular solutions at Viridor, notes that while the technology is feasible, the sector’s commercial sustainability remains in question. Viridor has recently shut down its three Quantafuel chemical recycling facilities in Scandinavia due to economic unviability, despite achieving 70–75% yields of pyrolysis oil by weight.
Previously, the UK-based Plastic Energy entered administration because of a downturn in the European market, even though it operated plants in Spain and partnered with major petrochemical firms like Sabic and TotalEnergies in other European nations. The primary assets of the company, including intellectual property and stakes in joint ventures, are currently being sold by joint administrator Geoff Rowley. The managing director of Plastic Energy has emphasized the necessity for financial and regulatory backing for the industry to compete with fossil materials.
Analysis from the Fraunhofer Institute indicated that before the closure of Quantafuel, Europe had a chemical recycling capacity of 289,000 tonnes annually, with 65 projects planned, nine of which have already been halted.
Policies such as the EU’s Packaging and Packing Waste Regulation (PPWR), extended producer responsibility, and landfill bans are on the horizon, yet their inconsistent implementation presents challenges. Hodder stresses the importance of certainty to encourage investments amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
To aid this, the EU has established new guidelines permitting chemically recycled content in plastic bottles via a mass balance approach. However, Neste has pointed out that this does not permit the utilization of existing refineries, necessitating changes for other plastics that require refinery upgrades to manage contaminants.
Policy is essential regarding feedstock to improve waste collection and sorting, argues Steve Mahon, chief executive of Mura Technology. This is emphasized by the UK’s recent postponement of mandatory collection for film and flexible packaging.
Mura Technology is set to inaugurate its first plant in Wilton, UK, employing supercritical water for high conversion rates of post-consumer waste. Plans for further expansion are underway in Singapore, where government initiatives bolster higher recycling rates and a competitive chemical industry.
Recycling Europe cautions that the EU may lose industrial capacity before the full benefits of the PPWR are realized, advocating for mandatory eco-modulation mechanisms for extended producer responsibility. France’s implementation of EPR bonuses for packaging containing recycled plastics serves as a model suggested for wider application at the EU level.
In the US, recyclers confront comparable pressures from inexpensive fossil-based imports. The Department of Energy has terminated grants for chemical recycling projects, labeling them economically unviable, with two plant closures reported due to environmental concerns. The EU aims to curtail pollution by developing sustainability criteria for plastic recycling technologies.
The chemical recycling industry is at a pivotal juncture, requiring policy stability and financial assistance to realize its potential within the global circular economy.