Positive prospects for recycled plastics market

Global – The global recycled plastics market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 4.31% during the period 2016-2020, according to a new report by Technavio. The growth is forecast to be as high as 6% for recycled plastics in the non-food-contact packaging segment.

The in-depth study of the recycled plastics industry breaks down key developments in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region as well as in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Researchers analysed the market potential for each geographical region based on, among other factors, macroeconomic parameters, consumer buying patterns and market supply-demand scenarios. Emerging opportunities for recycled products are hailed by the report as important drivers for the global plastics market.

‘The increased acceptance of electronic devices is providing opportunities for the use of recycled plastics for producing casings, circuit boards and other components that are extensively used for manufacturing electronic devices for households and vehicles,’ comments Technavio analyst Chandrakumar Badala Jaganathan.

The PET segment dominated the plastics recycling market in 2015 with a market share of nearly 60%, Technavio states. Plastic bottles will continue to be ‘the leading source material for recycling’ and will constitute more than half of the overall waste plastic consumption for recycling. Significant efforts towards increasing the collection of rigid plastics such as thermoformed packaging and bulk containers will ‘spur the growth’ in the recycled plastics market over the forecast period.

According to the report, a large proportion of the plastic currently procured for recycling is actually not suitable for this purpose as most plastics used are semi-porous and absorb molecules of the stored materials. ‘The removal of these residues is tedious and additional treatments for the same can potentially alter the properties of the recycled plastics,’ the researchers note.