• Plastics Europe has published the 2026 edition of The Circular Economy for Plastics – A European Analysis.
• The report reviews the evolution of the European plastics system during the 2022–2024 period.
• Circular plastics production in Europe reached 8.7 million tonnes in 2024.
• Annual growth in circular plastics production slowed significantly, from 13.6% in 2022 to just 1.2% in 2024.
• 70.4% of collected plastic waste in Europe was still sent to incineration or landfill.

Plastics Europe has released the 2026 edition of The Circular Economy for Plastics – A European Analysis, providing an updated overview of plastics production, consumption, recycling, waste management, and trade flows across Europe.
According to the report, Europe’s transition toward a circular plastics economy continues, but the pace of progress has slowed considerably. Circular plastics production reached 8.7 million tonnes in 2024, representing 15.8% of total plastics production in Europe. However, annual growth in circular plastics production dropped from 13.6% in 2022 to just 1.2% in 2024.
Demand for circular plastics among European converters has also weakened. The report shows that annual demand growth declined from 16.2% in 2022 to 4% in 2024. At the same time, Europe is becoming increasingly dependent on imports, with 19% of converter demand for circular plastics being supplied from outside the region.
Waste management remains one of the biggest challenges. In 2024, Europe collected 32.7 million tonnes of plastic waste. Of this volume, 48.9% was sent to energy recovery through incineration, while 21.5% was landfilled. Only 29.6% was directed to recycling. As a result, 70.4% of collected plastic waste was not recycled.
The report also highlights a 36.5% increase in exports of sorted plastic waste compared to 2022, reaching 1.5 million tonnes. Furthermore, 12.4% of Europe’s collected plastic waste was recycled outside the region.
The timing is particularly important as the European Union is set to introduce a temporary 2.5-year ban on plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries starting in November 2026. This measure could increase the availability of secondary raw materials within Europe, but only if sufficient sorting and recycling capacity is developed.
For the European plastics industry, the message is clear: without continued investment in collection, sorting, recycling infrastructure, and the use of recycled materials, Europe risks losing valuable resources, economic value, and industrial competitiveness.
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