Page 61 from: November 2012

61November 2012

Market champions
The report also notes that engineering plastics

managed to record an impressive growth rate

of 8% last year, with polyamide leading the way.

Among the so-called ‘big six’ plastic types

which have been market champions for so long,

the most notable progress in 2011 was made by

polystyrene and polyurethane. These were

mainly used in construction and insulation

applications.

Meanwhile, demand from European converters

increased by 1.1% to 47 million tonnes last year.

‘The relative size of end-use applications

remained fairly stable compared to previous

years with packaging remaining the largest seg-

ment and representing more than 39% of the

overall demand,’ the document testifies. This

sector is followed by building & construction

(20.5%), automotive (8.3%) and electrical &

electronic equipment (5.4%).

Amid these changeable conditions, most applica-

tions were seen to ‘more or less stagnate’ in 2011

with movements of typically +/-2%. Therefore,

automotive industry growth of almost 10% is

heralded by PlasticsEurope as a major accom-

plishment and a testament to the ‘important role’

played by plastics in vehicle design. Among the

niche markets, some subtle yet significant

advances in electronic vehicles (EVs) can be

ascribed to plastics: for example, EVs require

heavy, high-performance batteries and so con-

siderable weight is added into the equation, but

the impact of this has been mitigated by the use

of plastics, remarks PlasticsEurope. ‘Using more

plastic materials helps limit the amount of weight

a vehicle gains and offers the potential to create

lightweight, versatile solutions for automotive

manufacturers,’ it states. In addition, most head-

lamps and rear lamps are made of plastics, with

the exception of special-volume cars.

Bio-based solutions
Renewed momentum might also trace back to

the stronger presence of the bio-based plastics

sector, it is suggested. Having experienced a

‘rapid growth spurt’ over the last decade, it now

accounts for 1% of global plastics production.

What’s more, scientists have estimated that the

technical substitution potential of bio-based

plastics replacing petrochemical plastics has

reached 90%. Apart from serving automotive

applications, these plastics are also used in

household appliances as well as the health &

safety industry.

A total of 25.1 million tonnes of plastics con-

sumed in Europe entered the waste stream in

2011. The volume of plastics ending up in land-

fills is said by the PlasticsEurope report to be

‘constantly decreasing’, thanks to continuous

improvements in end-of-life management

options and higher public awareness.

Despite this, however, 10.3 million tonnes of

plastic was disposed of last year, whereas 14.9

million tonnes was recovered. There was an

increase of 2.4% in post-consumer plastic

waste, which is said to be slightly higher than

the increase in demand (1.1%) due to a ‘grow-

ing waste generation’ from mid- and long-life

products.

Collection figures climb
Meanwhile, plastics collection has experienced

quite a boost – both in terms of material meant

for recycling and material destined for energy

recovery. Legal changes, higher targets and

‘stronger activity from citizens’ helped the col-

lected quantity of plastics for recycling to

rocket nearly 6% last year. Collection numbers

for energy recovery went up 4.2% in 2011

which, according to the PlasticsEurope analysis,

is a direct result of the increased use of post-

consumer plastic waste as a ‘complementary

fuel’ in power plants and cement kilns.

When comparing recycling performances

throughout Europe, most EU countries occupy

the 15 to 30% range, with energy recovery lev-

els varying between 0 and 75%. ‘Overall

progress has been achieved in capturing the

value from plastics waste, as the increase in

recycling and recovery rate is approximately

5-6% per year,’ argues PlasticsEurope. At the

same time, the organisation calls on those

countries which still landfill valuable end-of-

life material to take the opportunity to expand

their energy-from-waste and recycling net-

works as a means of tackling their energy defi-

cit/resource efficiency problems.

Not yet ready for 2020
As it stands, many EU member states need to

‘pursue greater efforts’ in order to completely

divert their plastics from landfills by 2020.

Although they are short of this target, some

have come a long way, the report acknowledg-

es. As a word of advice, it adds: ‘Any strategy

aiming at improving waste management should

combine both recycling and energy recovery.’

According to the latest figures, the biggest

improvements in the recycling and recovery

rate last year were achieved by Estonia and Fin-

land; as a result, the two countries recorded

increases of, respectively, 45% and 30%

between 2006 and 2011. In the medium growth

category are Norway, Germany, Hungary, Slo-

vakia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, each

of which attained a 15%-plus recovery rate

increase over the same five-year period. At the

bottom of the list come Denmark, Switzerland,

Malta and Sweden, each registering an increase

in plastics recovery of less than 5%.

As a side-note, PlasticsEurope underlines that

the latter may be labelled as small gains but that

the extra recovery largely went straight to recy-

cling.

‘Any strategy
aiming at improving
waste management

should combine
both recycling and

energy recovery.’

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