EC: Support for the plastic recycling sector, before the introduction of the Circular Economy Act in 2026
On 23/12/2025, the European Commission presented a package of measures to help the plastic industry overcome its current challenges, including the high energy costs, the unpredictable prices for virgin plastic, the competition from imports of cheap plastics, and the lack of demand for recycled plastics.
"While the EU's installed plastics recycling capacity reached 13.2 million tonnes in 2023, following growth rates of 17% in 2021 and 10% 2022, growth slowed to 6% in 2023 and is expected to turn into a net decrease of around one million tonnes of capacity by the end of 2025, outlines the Commission. It is particularly concerning at a time when the EU will need to process its own rapidly growing volume of plastic waste due to the entry into force of the ban on EU plastic waste export to non-OECD countries under the EU waste shipment rules."
This set of measures follows the recent Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), the Single Use Plastics Directive, and precedes the Circular Economy Act, which will be presented in 2026. They aim to boost the circular economy in the EU and strengthen the recycling and reuse of plastics capacity in Europe. The Circular Economy Act aims to increase the supply of European recycled materials and stimulate demand for secondary materials and circular products.
Measures proposed by the Commission to help the plastic recycling industry
Legislative actions
• An EU-wide act to implement end-of-waste criteria for plastics under the Waste Framework Directive. It aims to overcome the market fragmentation identified in the EU and create a single market for recycled plastics. The Commission will set standards on when recycled materials are again considered materials for reuse.
- A call for feedback has been open since 23/12/2025 until 26/01/2026 to collect inputs from businesses and citizens to finalise the initiative.
• An implementing act on the recycled content of PET single-use plastic beverage bottles under the Single Use Plastics Directive (25% recycled content in PET bottles by 2025 and 30% in all beverage bottles by 2030). It aims to integrate chemically recycled plastics to reach the EU recycling targets (and not only mechanically recycled plastics). The Commission outlines the investment opportunities it could create for plastic chemical recyclers.
- The act will be put to a vote before Member States.
Chemical recycling of plastics explained
The chemical recycling of plastics consists of breaking down long-chain plastic molecules, called polymers, into their fundamental building blocks, called monomers. It is then reassembled to create a new plastic, which avoids the waste of quality in the process of mechanical recycling of plastics.
Non-legislative actions
• Relaunch and strengthen the Circular Plastics Alliance, created in 2018, between public and private actors from the European plastics sector. There are currently 336 signatories of the alliance. This alliance aimed to "boost the EU market for recycled plastics up to 10 million tonnes by 2025".
• Creation of separate customs codes for virgin and recycled plastics in imports. The Commission aims to ensure fair competition between EU-businesses and importers of plastics and strengthen the surveillance of the EU rules on imported plastics.
• Launch of a public consultation and a call for evidence to evaluate the Single Use Plastics Directive, open until 17/03/2026. The Directive, which entered into force in 2019, aims to prevent the waste of single-use plastic products and fishing gear in the marine environment. The evaluation is set up to assess its impact on the marine environment and ecosystems, and on human health.
Financial support for innovation
• Increased support for circular projects through the European Investment Bank and collaboration with national banks. They will set up a pilot Competitiveness Coordination Tool to support the creation of trans-regional circularity hubs.
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