According to the market researches, the financial volume of the recycling market has reached 45.5 billion USD. By 2026, it is predicted that this financial volume will grow with 7.5% CAGR and reach 65.3 billion USD.
There are many important reasons for this growth, which is reflected in the analysis results. Among them, the rise in demand for end-consumer products made from recycled plastic and the rise in government initiatives to encourage and even make recycling more essential are two of the most important growth drivers. The starting point that increases the positive effects of these two locomotives in the recycling industry is the increasing awareness of global warming. That’s why plastic manufacturers create new, different and ever-evolving recycling concepts. In this way, it is aimed to reduce greenhouse gas effects and increase environmental sustainability.
However, on the other hand, the world population, which is increasing with each passing day, increases the consumption of plastic. This causes a paradox. This means that unprocessed plastics are being used more and their collection and storage is becoming a growing challenge to market growth. It is urgently necessary to install solid waste collection and separation systems. Among the recycled plastic types, the demand for PET and HDPE is increasing. This presents an important opportunity for the market as the recycling costs of these plastic types are low.
Recycling companies that contribute financial figures to the recycling market analysis include Envision Plastics, Custom Polymers, Inc., Plastic Recycling Inc., UltrePET, LLC, KW Plastics, Inc., CarbonLITE Industries, and Kuusakoski Group Oy.
In practice, as of 2022, a significant growth is expected with the ongoing effect of the past Covid pandemic, as well as the increase in the demand for ready-to-eat and ready-to-serve products, and the increase in plastic consumption in the food and beverage packaging sector. The need for health care brought by the disease is another reason for growth in the recycling industry.
From a process point of view, the packaging industry should be taken into account in terms of being the industry that will ensure the growth of the recycling industry. Affordable prices, easy supply and mechanical pressing equipment supply and laser filtration technologies are considered as the locomotive titles that ensure the growth of the recycling sector.
PET, Polyethylene Terephthalate, as the material subject to recycling, is the type of plastic that will make the biggest contribution to the growth of the industry. Recycling of PET plastic is economical and has a high flexibility rate. This means that recycled PET plastic has a wide range of uses. It is widely used in the electronics, food, beverage and other packaging, textile, film and even automotive industries. Numbers and statistics prove this. PET accounts for 70% of post-consumer recycling.
Geographically, APAC will be in the leading position. The waste management perspective and practices of rapidly industrializing countries such as China, India and Japan will be decisive in the industry. Solid waste management laws enacted by governments and the increase in production in the automotive, textile and construction industries are another factor that has positive effects on the growth of the recycling market.
To summarize, the increase in environmental awareness, the increase in plastic waste management practices, the increase in plastic demand, and government incentives will be the drivers of this growth.
