NEWS IN BRIEF...
Spanish research organisa- tion Aimplas ended 2025 with revenues of €26.7 million, a growth of more than 10%. Research activity accounted for 70% of revenue, with 653 partner companies taking part – and 34% of projects having an international scope.
http://aimplas.es
This year’s Plast show – held in Milan, Italy – wel- comed 35,000 visitors, of whom 25% came from abroad. At the same time, 44% of the 1,000 exhibit- ing companies were international. The event spanned an area of 40,000 sq m. The next edition of the exhibition takes place in 2029.
https://plastonline.org
This year’s Chinaplas exhibition in Shanghai welcomed over 350,000 visitors – a 10% increase on the 2025 event in Shenzen. Attendees from overseas (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) accounted for a quarter of visitors, up 26% from last year’s event, said organiser Adsale.
www.chinaplasonline.com
Europe increased PVC recycling levels in 2025
Recycling rates of PVC in Europe increased in 2025, according to VinylPlus. For the full year, it says
nearly 766,000 tonnes of PVC waste were recycled in the EU-27, plus Norway, Switzerland and the UK – a rise of nearly 6%. Of the total, 59% was pre- consumer waste – where factories reprocess their own waste internally – and 41% was post-consumer waste (where PVC is collected after use). In 2025, pre-consumer recycling rose by just over 1%, while post-consumer recycling was up more than 12%. Recycling of ‘flexibles’ was stable at around 54,000 tonnes. Recycling of ‘rigid film’ rose by around 12% to 19,000 tonnes. However, the bulk of PVC is used in windows, profiles and pipes – where recycling increased in all cases. In windows and profiles, it rose about 5% to 416,000 tonnes, while for pipes it rose by 22% to 41,000 tonnes. In its latest progress
report, VinylPlus estimates that over 500,000 tonnes of
Other building/ construction 6%
Pipes 9%
Windows/profiles 43%
Traffic management 17%
Other 1%
Floor coverings 24%
Use of rPVC in 2025, %
recycled PVC was used last year – a near-4% increase over 2024 – with more than half of it in windows/profiles (218,000 tonnes) and pipe (48,000 tonnes). The other main uses were floor covering, traffic manage- ment and other building/ construction applications. And, while European
plastics recycling capacity shrank nearly 4% in 2025 to 460,000 tonnes, PVC recycling capacity remained stable. The original VinylPlus
Total = 508,000 tonnes Source: VinylPlus, 2026
2030 commitment aimed to recycle 900,000 tonnes/year of PVC by 2025 – which has fallen around 15% short – and 1 million tonnes/year by 2030. The organisation has now carried out a ‘mid-term review’ and set new targets – which includes “a shift [away] from focusing on recycling volumes”. Instead, it will now assess progress “through a KPI framework linked to waste availability, collection efficiency, waste quality and traceability”. �
www.vinylplus.eu
German machine sales on course for flat year
German plastic machinery sales are expected to remain flat this year. VDMA, which represents manufac-
turers, says it had a poor start to the year – including a 3% sales dip and 5% decline in orders for the first quarter. However, this should be offset by “new momentum” from Asia and the Americas later this year, it said. This
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could lead to “modest growth for the plastics and rubber machinery sector from 2027 onwards”. “Consistent action is essential if our industry is to remain competitive worldwide in the future,” said Sandra Füllsack, chairwoman of VDMA. “We must ensure a sensible allocation of production capacity – which means
FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | July/August 2026
adjusting capacities in Europe while strengthening our presence in growth markets.” For 2025, new orders fell 2%, while
both production and exports fell by 8%. Total sales – including moulds, dies and ancillaries – fell nearly 6% to around €11.4 billion. �
https://vdma.eu
www.filmandsheet.com
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