PVC | SUSTAINABILITY
VinylPlus in Europe has reported a smaller decline in recycling by PVC manufacturers, along with progress being made in healthcare and other key markets. By Simon Robinson
Finding health in the vinyls recycling sector
The European PVC market was tough in 2024, but it looks like 25 years of effort to increase the level of recycling and circularity in the PVC sector paid off. The amount of PVC recycled in the EU 27, Norway, Switzerland and the UK fell but was down by only 1.7% in 2024 compared with 2023. This is consider- ably less than the 2.3% fall in production that PVC industry body VinylPlus estimated for the Euro- pean bloc in 2024. The figures from VinylPlus show that a total of 738,000 tonnes of PVC was recycled in 2023, and 725,000 tonnes in 2024. But the organisation’s annual report paints a highly nuanced picture than the small headline decline. In 2024, the whole EU plastics value chain was
buffeted by headwinds caused by persisting issues in end markets and trade flows. The difficulties were not confined to physical polymer supply and demand balances. In its annual report VinylPlus added that the problems were made worse by “steep increases in energy and production costs”
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which reduced investment in domestic raw materials and recycling. Karl-Martin Schellerer, VinylPlus Chairman, said
that 2024 threw up “significant obstacles, driven by factors such as low demand for both virgin and recycled plastics, increased imports of non-EU plastic materials and reduced investment in the construction sector.” In September, VinylPlus was one of 28 signatories
of a joint letter to EU policymakers about the plastics industry’s predicament and putting forward six strategic recommendations to combat the pressing issues which it said are “suffocating the industry”. Despite the obstacles, Charlotte Röber, Manag-
ing Director of VinylPlus, said in the annual report covering 2024: “Recycled PVC volumes within VinylPlus remained relatively stable… an impres- sive achievement given the challenging market conditions impacting the whole plastics industry, both in production and recycling.” The volume of PVC profiles recycled increased
November 2025 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 33
Main image: VinylPlus is working to increase recycling of PVC from healthcare applications
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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