The plastic recycling market - France

Recycling is a key process in the ecological transition, enabling waste to be processed and certain materials to be reintroduced into the production of new products. Among these, plastic, a ubiquitous material but a major source of pollution, is attracting growing interest. In 2024, the global plastic recycling market will be worth USD 49.98 billion, with promising growth prospects, at an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5% until 2033. This trend reflects a global awareness of the challenges of sustainability and resource management. In France, plastic recycling began in 1992 with the introduction of selective sorting. Today, it is driven by ecological ambitions and regulatory commitments such as the AGEC law, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of plastics. However, despite these advances, challenges persist: in 2022, only 29% of plastic waste was recycled, while 43% was incinerated to produce energy and 28% landfilled. The packaging industry alone, which generates 2.5 megatons of plastic waste out of the 4.5 megatons produced each year, illustrates the under-exploited potential of recycling. The average French person consumes 15 kilos of recyclable plastic waste per year, a figure still too low to offset the impact of non-recycled plastics. The ORMAT project, launched in 2023 by ADEME and supported by the Circular Economy Fund, bears witness to our determination to structure a high-performance circular economy. By supporting feasibility studies and industrial investments, this program aims to improve national plastic sorting and regeneration capacities. With 179 projects selected in its first year, and 36.87 million euros in aid granted, ORMAT is positioned as a strategic lever for boosting the incorporation of recycled raw materials (RRM) into production chains. This project responds to a growing demand for recycled materials, while reducing dependence on virgin plastics and imports. At the same time, ambitious targets have been set at European level: to achieve a 90% collection and recycling rate for plastic bottles by 2029, compared with 60% by 2022 in France. However, the sector still faces major economic challenges, not least the competitiveness of recycled plastic versus its virgin equivalent. Falling oil prices have reduced the price of virgin PET to €600 per tonne by 2023, compared with €700 for its recycled equivalent, slowing down the adoption of recycled plastics by manufacturers. Finally, plastic recycling also faces technical challenges, such as "decycling", where recycled plastics become lower-value products, limiting their re-entry into a closed loop.