We present a selection of the key European and international news from 2025 related to recycling, the circular economy and waste regulation: plant closures, new legislation, recycling targets and increasing regulatory pressure across the EU.
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The year 2025 is proving to be a turning point for the circular economy in Europe, marked by significant strain on the recycling industry and a growing international debate on the future of materials, waste and strategic resources.
European plastics recyclers face a severe crisis, with PRE warning of imminent collapse without urgent political action. Low-priced imports, weak demand, rising costs and red tape are driving closures. Nearly one million tonnes of capacity may be lost by 2025, threatening Europe’s circular economy and climate goals across key EU markets and regions.
The European Commission welcomes the political agreement on the Omnibus I package, simplifying the CSRD and CSDDD. The aim of these measures is to reduce administrative burden, increase flexibility, protect smaller firms, and cut compliance costs, while preserving sustainability objectives and strengthening EU competitiveness and investment capacity.
A 2025 study concluded that the UK could generate up to 5,400 new jobs by banning exports of plastic waste and investing instead in domestic recycling infrastructure, including up to 15 new recycling facilities by 2030. Analysts warn that exporting unprocessed waste undermines national circular-economy objectives and contributes to environmental harm abroad.
The EEA’s 2025 assessment found that only nine EU Member States are on track to meet binding 2025 recycling targets for municipal and packaging waste. Many countries remain over-reliant on landfill, particularly for plastics and textiles, and still lack the infrastructure needed for widespread separate collection and high-quality recycling.
In August 2025, the European Commission launched a major public consultation on the Circular Economy Act, aimed at strengthening EU circular-economy legislation for 2026–2030. The proposal addresses eco-design rules, recyclability performance requirements, waste-prevention measures and clearer end-of-waste criteria. The consultation remained open until 6 November 2025.
Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which replaces the 1994 Packaging Directive, became legally binding in February 2025. It introduces strict EU-wide rules for reusable and refillable packaging, recyclability performance grades, eco-design obligations, compostability requirements and harmonised labelling. It is widely considered one of the most impactful waste-policy reforms in decades.
In mid-2025, the European Commission unveiled a new package of actions designed to double the use of recycled materials by 2030. Measures include revisions to the Waste Shipment Regulation, enhanced policies on e-waste, and expanded innovation incentives aimed at improving reuse, repair, and high-quality recycling across the EU internal market.
Delegations from more than 100 countries met in Geneva in 2025 for a decisive round of negotiations on a global legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. Talks centred on whether the treaty should impose limits on plastic production, rather than addressing only waste management and recycling. The outcome will shape global plastics regulation for decades.
By late 2025, aluminium recycling, particularly the recovery of high-quality scrap, had become a major strategic focus due to growing global demand for critical raw materials used in the energy transition. EU policymakers are considering restrictions on scrap-metal exports to secure domestic supply, signalling a shift in which recycled metals are seen less as “waste” and more as strategic raw materials.
A 2025 global assessment showed that plastic-recycling rates remain stuck below 10%, despite rapid growth in plastic production. The report highlights structural limitations of traditional mechanical recycling and calls for urgent reforms. European recycling organisations are pressing for harmonised EU-wide end-of-waste criteria for plastics to strengthen markets for secondary raw materials.
In 2025, the European Commission launched consultations to define rules for chemically recycled content in plastics — a key step towards integrating advanced recycling methods into EU circular-economy compliance pathways. Combined with stricter recycling targets for 2025–2030, these reforms are encouraging investment in chemical recycling, high-temperature conversion processes and recovery of difficult-to-recycle waste streams.
Recycling industry federations urged the EU in 2025 to establish EU-wide end-of-waste standards for plastics to eliminate trade barriers and ensure legal certainty for recycled materials. A harmonised framework would support investment in advanced recycling technologies, reduce administrative burdens, and strengthen demand for recycled plastics across European value chains.
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