The European plastic value chain is facing a deepening industrial recession that threatens its role in delivering circularity, strategic autonomy, and green innovation. Soaring energy costs, legal uncertainty, regulatory fragmentation and intensifying global competition are steadily eroding the sector’s resilience and undermining its capacity to invest, innovate, and compete.

Recent data confirm the severity of the decline and underscore the urgency for intervention. Between 2018 and 2022, plastics production in Europe declined by 13.3%, followed by a further drop of 8.3% in 2023. Equally concerning, 2024 saw the slowest growth in recycling capacity in years and a surge in facility closures across Member States.

In response, over 30 key actors in the entire plastic value chain, including waste management operators, recyclers, raw material producers and plastics converters, put forward a set of strategic recommendations to shape a forward-looking agenda to foster industrial competitiveness, strengthen supply chain resilience, and secure a sustainable, circular, and innovation-driven plastics economy for Europe.