Shortly before the Christmas holidays PlasticsEurope published its latest report on the plastics industry, especially in Europe. The trend monitor shows that global demand for plastics is continuing to rise and that Europe continues to be one of the most important production locations in an international comparison.

Other topics in „Plastics the Facts 2018“ include recycling management, recycling and the voluntary commitment of European plastics producers, who have set themselves ambitious targets for the coming years. Plastic packaging is to be completely reused or recycled throughout Europe from 2040 onwards. By 2030, the recycling rate should already be 60 percent.

In 2017, more than 1.5 million people worked in around 60,000 companies and generated sales of around 350 billion euros. Global plastics production in 2017 amounted to 348 million tonnes (2016: 335 million tonnes), of which almost 65 million tonnes were produced in Europe, an increase of more than four million tonnes compared with the previous year. In an international comparison, Europe accounts for just under one fifth of plastics production (18.5 percent), making it the second-largest production location after China (29.4 percent) and just ahead of the NAFTA countries (17.7 percent).

https://www.plasticseurope.org/de/resources/publications/670-plastics-facts-2018