Recycling is not profitable. Better punishment than recycled plastic

• Despite the requirement to use recycled raw material to produce beverage bottles, demand is low, processors say.
• There is no data yet on the share of recyclate in bottle production, but despite regulations aimed at encouraging the use of secondary raw materials, the demand for it is not growing.
• A ton of recyclate is about EUR 1.6 thousand. The price of a ton of primary material is about EUR 1 thousand. It is more profitable to buy it and pay PLN 1 thousand of product fee - says Sławomir Pacek, president of SPR.

Despite the requirement to use recycled raw material for the production of beverage bottles, demand is low - claim processors. They want an increase in product fees for producers not fulfilling their obligations. The Ministry of Climate is waiting for market data - we read in "Puls Biznesu".

The daily reports that from January 2025, entities introducing products in PET bottles to the market must use at least 25 percent recycled raw materials in their production.

As he explains, such requirements are set by the EU Single Use Plastics (SUP) directive. For failure to meet them - as the author emphasizes - there is a product fee of up to PLN 1,000/tonne.

However, according to Sławomir Pacek, president of the Polish Recycling Association (SPR), beverage producers prefer to pay rather than use recycled raw materials.

The head of SPR emphasizes that there is no data yet on the share of recyclate in bottle production, but claims that members of the organization report that despite regulations aimed at encouraging the use of secondary raw materials, the demand for them is not growing.

A ton of recyclate costs about EUR 1.6 thousand , while the price of a ton of primary petrochemical material is about EUR 1 thousand, so it is more profitable to buy it and pay PLN 1 thousand of product fee (i.e. about EUR 240 per ton)

- explains Sławomir Pacek.

Let us recall that the targets for the minimum share of recycled plastics in plastic beverage bottles, including PET bottles, are set out in the EU directive. They assume:

• by 2025: at least 25% recycled plastic for PET bottles, calculated as an average for all PET bottles placed on the market in the territory of a Member State,
• by 2030: at least 30% recycled plastic for beverage bottles, calculated as an average for all beverage bottles placed on the market in the territory of a Member State.

The aim of the regulations is to reduce the impact of plastics on the environment . This means that plastic materials and waste generated during the production, manufacturing and handling of a product before it is placed on the market cannot be considered post-consumer waste. They cannot therefore be counted as recycled material.