Europe’s plastics sector, responsible for 90 percent of the continent’s polymer production, is signaling a critical slowdown as market share and circular production stagnate.
According to Plastics Europe’s Plastics Fast Facts 2025, Europe’s share of global plastics production has dropped from 22% in 2006 to just 12% in 2024, while circular plastics remain stuck at 15% of total production, raising alarms about competitiveness and industrial sovereignty.
At the K 2025 trade show, Virginia Janssens, Managing Director of Plastics Europe, warned that without decisive intervention, Europe risks losing industrial leadership to China and other Asian producers, leaving vital supply chains in sectors like automotive, construction, renewables, and healthcare vulnerable to imports.
The report highlights uneven global growth: Asia dominates 55% of global plastics production, followed by North America at 16.4%, while Europe’s output continues to decline. Circular solutions are gaining traction, however — mechanical recycling increased 12.7% year-on-year, reaching 41 million metric tons — but these gains are insufficient to offset declining fossil-based production and stagnating domestic capacity.
Economic indicators further underscore the sector’s fragility. Europe still employs 1.5 million workers across 50,650 companies, but since 2022, 3,000 firms have closed, leading to 35,000 lost jobs. Plastics Europe emphasizes that a strategic recovery depends on both policy support and investment in innovation and circular technologies.
Industry leaders are calling on EU policymakers to address the energy cost crisis, integrate chemicals and polymers into EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) compensation schemes, reinvest ETS revenues into circular and net-zero innovations, strengthen trade and import regulations, and ensure the free flow of goods and raw materials within the internal market. At the same time, improving monitoring of trade flows and raising recycled-content targets are seen as essential measures to strengthen competitiveness and advance Europe’s circular economy.
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