Europe’s plastics recycling industry is demanding tougher EU rules to protect domestic recyclers from a surge in imports and ensure that recycled-content targets under the bloc’s new packaging law actually drive investment in Europe.

 

In a joint statement, the European Waste Management Association (FEAD), Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) and Recycling Europe called on the European Commission to make a clear “Made in Europe” preference part of the rules implementing the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

 

The warning comes as European recyclers face what the groups describe as an “unprecedented crisis”, marked by plant closures, weakening demand, intensifying international competition and rising imports of materials labelled as recyclates whose recycled content, they argue, cannot always be effectively verified.

 

The PPWR’s Article 7 sets mandatory recycled-content targets for plastic packaging from 2030. The European Commission is expected to publish an Implementing Act on the regulation’s planned “mirror clause” in the fourth quarter of 2026.

 

Industry groups say the new framework must prevent European manufacturers from meeting recycled-content obligations with material produced under weaker standards outside Europe.

 

For packaging produced or filled in the EU, the groups want compliance with recycled-content targets to be based on plastics recycled from post-consumer waste collected and processed in Europe — defined in the statement as the EU27, EFTA and UK.

 

They argue that such a preference has already been widely used by EU member states under the Single-Use Plastics Directive and should now be made permanent under the PPWR.

 

For packaging produced and filled outside the EU but placed on the European market, the groups are calling for strict “mirror measures”. Imported recycled plastics should count toward PPWR targets only where they can demonstrate compliance with requirements equivalent to those applying within the EU — or where European recyclates are used.

 

The proposed safeguards would operate at two levels.

 

First, the European Commission would assess whether third countries have environmentally sound waste-management systems and circular-economy measures equivalent to those in the EU. Only recyclates from countries meeting those requirements would qualify.

 

Second, individual recycling facilities would have to undergo independent third-party certification, valid for one year, demonstrating compliance with equivalent environmental, operational and traceability standards.

 

The industry is also calling for tougher enforcement across the supply chain, including harmonised verification procedures, stronger controls on imported packaging and dissuasive sanctions in EU member states.

 

The groups say transparency and traceability must extend throughout international supply chains, potentially through a chain-of-custody model, with documentation and independent verification used to establish where post-consumer plastic waste and recycled material originated.

 

“The PPWR RC targets can only deliver their environmental and industrial objectives if they create genuine demand for high-quality recycled plastics produced in Europe or under standards equivalent to those applicable within the EU.”

 

The groups argue that such an approach is essential not only for environmental credibility but also for Europe’s industrial competitiveness.

 

They say stronger rules would help create a stable market for European recycled plastics, encourage investment in domestic recycling capacity, strengthen the bloc’s strategic autonomy and prevent European recyclers from being undercut by imports produced under weaker conditions.

 

FEAD represents the waste-management value chain through 21 national member associations and associate members, collectively representing more than 3,000 companies. The sector employs more than 500,000 people and invests around €5 billion in the European economy each year.

 

Plastics Recyclers Europe represents European plastics recyclers. According to the organisation, the sector has more than €9.1 billion in turnover, 13.2 million tonnes of installed recycling capacity, around 850 recycling facilities and more than 30,000 employees.

 

Recycling Europe represents the wider European recycling industry, spanning materials including metals, paper, plastics, textiles, tyres, construction and demolition waste, ships and electrical and electronic waste.

 

With the European Commission’s implementing rules expected later this year, the industry is now pushing for the PPWR’s recycled-content targets to become a driver of European recycling — rather than a market opportunity for imported material whose origins and environmental credentials are harder to verify.