Plastics Recycling: Global Markets

Report Highlights

The global market for plastic recycling should grow from $26.5 billion in 2020 to $34.4 billion by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% for the forecast period of 2020-2025.

Report Includes

• 101 data tables
• Comprehensive overview of the global markets for plastics recycling within the industry
• Analyses of the global market trends, with data corresponding to market size for 2019, estimates for 2020, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2025
• Assessment of market potential for recycled plastics, revenue forecast in dollar value terms and market volumes on the basis of resin type, source of waste, end use, application sector and geographical region
• Country specific data and analysis of China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, France, U.K., Spain, U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and South Africa
• Latest information on major market drivers, opportunities and challenges, industry chain structure, regulatory and environmental updates, macroeconomic trends, and technological advancements that are affecting the overall marketplace
• Identification of companies best-positioned to meet the global plastics recycling market demand owing to their proprietary technologies, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic alliances
• Competitive landscape of the leading companies encompassing their successful marketing strategies, key contribution, and recent developments
• Company profiles of market leading participants, including CarbonLITE, Kunststoffrecycling Ges.m.b.H, LyondellBasell, MBA Polymers Inc., MTM Plastics GmbH, Montello S.p.A., Teijin, Recycled Plastics UK and Shakti Plastics Industries

Report Scope

For the purposes of this report, the term recycling refers to the removal of products from the waste stream for use (not including incineration or energy recovery). Any secondary use or reuse of the material is assumed to have already taken place. The term recovery includes all disposal methods except land disposal (i.e., recycling, incineration, waste-to-energy [WTE]).

The term chemical recycling will be used to describe the return to chemical units originally used to make resins. Nylon can be depolymerized to caprolactam. The term feedstock recycling will be used to denote the process of decomposing plastics to a mix of organic chemicals, some used in the manufacture of plastics and some not. Feedstock recycling products are more akin to the raw materials used to produce plastics (e.g., petroleum, natural gas).

Mechanical recycling methods include those that involve physical modifications to the recovered plastic only, such as separation, grinding and classifying.

This report will be concerned with activities in four regions: North America, Europe, Asia and the Rest of the World (RoW). All figures are reported to the nearest million dollars or million or billion lbs. Growth rates given are compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) for the period 2019-2025. All value figures noted are in constant 2019 U.S. dollars.

The market data in the tables of this report only cover post-consumer plastics. Post-industrial plastics are not included.

This report is divided into several sections. The Introductory section summarizes the study's goals and objectives, the reasons for doing the study and scopes. The Summary and Highlights section provides a summary of estimates and forecasts of the global plastic recycling market 2019-2025 and highlights of the largest and fastest-growing markets and important trends.

The Overview section describes the manufacture of plastics, the major types of plastics used, how plastics are disposed of after use and a summary of recycling methods.

The Global Market section describes existing markets by product source. Recycled waste products include bottles, vehicles, carpet and electronics. This section covers topics such as the amount of plastic annually collected and recycled from these sources. When possible, it offers a prediction regarding the probable growth rate over the next five years.

The Global Market section also looks at plastic recycling by resin, summarizing the sources and end uses for recycled materials that are available. Most recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) comes from PET bottles and the main end market for recycled PET bottle resin is fibers.

The Global Market section also profiles products made with recycled plastics, including applications such as plastic lumber and plastic composites (e.g., wood, fibers, cement, glass). Products are covered separately; products may be made from plastic from a combination of sources. Wood/fiber plastic composites may be made from several different resin types, each possibly derived from several different products.

After the global market sections, there will be four chapters that discuss the regional plastic recycling markets: North America, Europe, Asia and RoW.

The Company Profiles section lists relevant organizations and companies.

The Appendix provides definitions of abbreviations and acronyms.

Market values and volumes have specific measurements.

• Market values are measured at the level of plastic recycled, such as the values of recycled resin pellets.
• Market volumes by end use or application are measured at the levels of both the amount of plastic available for recycling and the amount of plastic that is recycled.
• Market volumes by source of waste (e.g., bottles, films) are measured at the level of the amount of plastic available for recycling.
• Market volume is segmented by resin types of waste (e.g., PET, PE) and measured at the level of the amount of plastic available for recycling.

Analyst Credentials

Jason Chen has been an analyst and consultant for the polymer, composite, fiber, textile and energy industries for 18 years. He works as a researcher, writer and/or editor for the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA), China Textile Academy (CTA), China Chemical Fiber Association (CCFA), International Fiber Journal, Filtration News, Platts Emission Daily, Vision Systems Design, Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News and MobileTex. Currently he is the chief scientist of a company endeavoring to reduce China's air and water pollution. He has a degree in Civil Engineering, Chemicals and Advanced Materials from Shantou University.