Plastics

[New] Some major industry sectors in North America will experience moderate declines in end market demand for plastics products, while others will enjoy moderate increases in market demand.
[New] Europe plans to ban all single-use plastics starting next year.
[New] The plastic bottles market was valued at USD 159.68 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 240 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.5% over the forecast period 2020-2025.
ReSource: Plastics aims to enlist 100+ companies by 2030 in order to reach WWF's ultimate goal of preventing at least 50 million metric tons of plastic waste from entering nature.
The pollution problem is only getting worse: According to the consultancy McKinsey, plastic waste may grow from 260 million tons per year in 2016 to 460 million tons by 2030.
The EU's circular economy package sets a plastics recycling target of 55% by 2030, and it wants to see 10 million tonnes of recycled plastics used in products in Europe by 2025.
The UK government has a 2022 vision for increased use of recycled plastic in packaging, as evidenced by the Plastic Packaging Tax that will be enforced with financial penalties.
Government policies should immediately call for bans on non-essential plastic packaging rather than working to a target of eliminating avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042 as the UK's 25 year environmental plan currently indicates.
Enhancing plastics recycling could help save scarce resources, create jobs and reduce environmental impacts.
The four Australian targets, to be achieved by 2025, are: - 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging - 70% of plastic packaging being recycled or composted - 30% of average recycled content included in packaging - The phase out of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics packaging.
Allied Market Research estimated the market to cross US$ 68.5 billion by 2024, the period that is targeted by a number of companies such as shoe maker Adidas; and economies like the European Union to increase use of recycled plastics, while cutting down use of fossil-based plastics.
The European Plastics Pact - which has been signed by food and beverage majors such as Nestle, Unilever, and Carrefour - aims to make all plastic packaging and single-use plastic products reusable where possible, and recyclable by 2025.
In 2018, Thailand banned imports of electronic waste, which is often highly toxic, and announced a goal to end imports of plastic waste by 2021.
Thailand has announced a halt to all imports of plastic waste by 2021, and Vietnam and Malaysia also have plans in place to reduce permits for imports of plastic waste.
The global Plastic Films market is valued at USD 102990 million in 2020 is expected to reach USD 126090 million by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 2.9% during 2021-2026.
With oil use in cars expected to peak in the mid-2020s, oil companies like Saudi Aramco are investing billions in plastics, where demand is still strong, and plastic production is expected to double in the next 20 years.
Companies have set more ambitious commitments to curb plastic waste, including Unilever's goal to halve its use of virgin plastic by 2025.
By 2025 at least 10 million tons of recycled plastics should find their way into products and packaging in Europe each year.
The global market for collaborative robots in the plastics and polymers industry is expected to grow exponentially over the next five years, from $250 million in 2020 to $1.5 billion in 2025.
The global market for collaborative robots in the plastics and polymers industry is expected to grow exponentially over the next five years, from $250M in 2020 to $1.5 B in 2025.
Scotland upholds the aim of matching the EU ambition for all plastic packaging to be economically recyclable or reusable by 2030 and continues to support the UK Plastic Pact target of 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging by 2025.
Governments are adopting measures to drive increased use of recycled content, including the Government of the United Kingdom's tax on plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled content, which will be introduced in 2022.

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Last updated: 12 July 2020