Europe Positions Itself for Growth in Chemical Plastic Recycling

The global plastic recycling services market is projected to grow to USD 24bn by 2030, according to figures from Grand View Research (GVR), while the global market for chemical recycling of plastics is expected to reach USD 22.45bn by 2032, according to data from Infinium Global Research. Europe currently accounts for the largest revenue share of the global plastic recycling services and according to the GVR report, innovations in mechanical and chemical recycling technologies are enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of plastic recycling in Europe.

As the European Union is working towards defining how different forms of chemical recycling should be accounted for under its circular economy framework, plastic waste is set to gain greater strategic importance as a tradable and investable feedstock across European value chains.

For the EU as a whole, chemical recycling processes such as depolymerisation and pyrolysis can be precursors to material circularity and for chemical manufacturers in the CEE region in particular, developing capabilities in chemical recycling is not only a way to meet circularity targets, but also a possibility to rebalance their positions within the EU plastics industry, placing themselves as emerging or mid-tier suppliers of secondary raw materials rather than marginal players in fossil-based polymer production.

On paper, the EU’s chemical recycling sector is heading for an investment boom. In September 2025, PlasticsEurope – the EU trade association for plastics manufacturers, representing nearly 100 companies producing over 90% of polymers in Europe – announced that its members plan to invest EUR 8bn by 2030 in chemical recycling, a significant jump from the EUR 2.6bn planned for 2025, aiming to boost circularity, tackle waste, and produce high-quality recycled plastics supporting a circular economy and climate neutrality.

Circularity and chemical recycling can be considered tools to reduce the EU’s import dependency in plastic production and conversion and stabilise feedstock supply within the 27-nation bloc. This has wide implications for CEE, which has been developing conversion capacity.

Across the CEE region, chemical and refining companies have been engaging in plastic pyrolysis and preparing existing petrochemical assets to process alternative hydrocarbons under mass-balance certification frameworks.

A recent example is MOL Group, one of CEE’s largest integrated petrochemical manufacturers, which in September 2025 announced the successful completion of a pilot chemical recycling run at its Tiszaújváros site in Hungary, using post-consumer plastic waste as circular feedstock to produce ISCC PLUS-certified polyethylene and polypropylene. A statement on the company website said MOL Group aimed to continue the transformation towards circular chemicals and to utilise up to 1.5mn tonnes of feedstock for the energy industry by 2030. According to the company, this is supported by a growing portfolio that includes a concession to manage municipal waste in Hungary, past acquisitions in plastics recycling in Hungary and partnerships to advance chemical recycling technologies.

In Poland, chemical company Synthos is an example for the downstream side of chemical recycling. In 2023, Synthos, a manufacturer of synthetic rubbers, styrene plastics, plant protection products, dispersions and latexes, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with OMV, an Austrian multinational integrated oil, gas, and petrochemicals company. Under the MoU, OMV will supply long-term (until 2030) sustainable raw materials including ISCC-Plus-certified butadiene for synthetic rubber used in tyre manufacturing. Synthos has also adopted targets for increasing the share of recycled and sustainable raw materials in its product portfolio, as shown by the Sustainability section of its website. For producers like Synthos, who do not engage in chemical recycling themselves, exposure to chemically recycled inputs lies in incorporating certified circular feedstocks often under mass balance frameworks, into their polymer production for industrial customers.

CEE chemical firms are not waiting for chemical recycling to be fully defined before positioning themselves in the emerging value chain. By certifying existing assets, testing alternative feedstocks and integrating pyrolysis-derived hydrocarbons into existing infrastructure, they are building optionality into systems designed for fossil inputs. This early positioning could allow them to capture first-mover advantages as regulatory frameworks solidify and demand for circular plastics accelerates.