Plastic Recycling Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the plastic recycling market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global plastic recycling market reached a value of nearly $41.6 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.74% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $41.6 billion in 2023 to $62.56 billion in 2028 at a rate of 8.50%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.58% from 2028 and reach $90.13 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the increase in disposable income, growth in plastic consumption, environmental awareness and concerns about plastic pollution and shift towards sustainable investing. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period was limited recycling infrastructure.

Going forward, rising demand for sustainable packaging, increased attention to automotive plastic reduction, government initiatives and investments, strong economic growth, rapid urbanization, increasing industrialization and increasing plastic waste will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the plastic recycling market in the future include skilled labor shortages.

The plastic recycling market is segmented by type into polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene and other types. The polyethylene terephthalate market was the largest segment of the plastic recycling market segmented by type, accounting for 48.80% or $20.3 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the polyethylene terephthalate segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the plastic recycling market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 9.14% during 2023-2028.

The plastic recycling market is segmented by source into bottles, films, foams, fibers and other sources. The bottles market was the largest segment of the plastic recycling market segmented by source, accounting for 53.76% or $22.36 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the films segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the plastic recycling market segmented by source, at a CAGR of 9.307% during 2023-2028.

The plastic recycling market is segmented by end use into packaging, automotive, building and construction, electrical and electronics and other end uses. The packaging market was the largest segment of the plastic recycling market segmented by end use, accounting for 44.42% or $18.48 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the automotive segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the plastic recycling market segmented by end use, at a CAGR of 9.42% during 2023-2028.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the plastic recycling market, accounting for 40.77% or $16.96 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by North America, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the plastic recycling market will be Asia Pacific and South America where growth will be at CAGRs of 9.49% and 9.06% respectively. These will be followed by Western Europe and Eastern Europe where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 8.54% and 8.40% respectively.

The global plastic recycling market is fairly fragmented, with large number of players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 17.96% of the total market in 2023. DS Smith Plc was the largest competitor with a 6.23% share of the market, followed by Republic Services, Inc. with 3.21%, Far Eastern New Century Corporation (Phoenix Technologies) with 2.84%, Krones AG with 1.54%, Plastipak Holdings Inc. with 1.35%, BERRY GLOBAL INC. with 0.93%, Reliance Industries Limited with 0.84%, Alpek S.A.B. de C.V. with 0.60%, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited with 0.27% and MBA Polymers with 0.17%.

The top opportunities in the plastic recycling market segmented by type will arise in the polyethylene terephthalate segment, which will gain $11.14 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the plastic recycling market segmented by source will arise in the bottles segment, which will gain $12.53 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the plastic recycling market segmented by end use will arise in the packaging segment, which will gain $ 9.83 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The plastic recycling market size will gain the most in China at $4.52 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for plastic recycling market include focus on actively engaging in the development of advanced technologies such as chemical recycling technology to enhance the efficiency, sustainability and scalability of plastic waste management processes, focus on gaining traction in the plastic recycling market, focus on launching new plants and developing advanced recycling technologies to enhance sustainability and efficiency, focus on directing their efforts towards the development of AI-enabled recycling equipment to enhance operational efficiency, focus on advancing plastic recycling efforts by investing in state-of-the-art recycling facilities to enhance processing capacity, improve material recovery rates and promote sustainability and focus on advancing plastic recycling efforts by investing in state-of-the-art recycling facilities to enhance processing capacity, improve material recovery rates and promote sustainability.

Player-adopted strategies in the plastic recycling market include focus on launching new products to enhance business offerings, focus on strategic partnerships to enhance business offerings, focus on opening new recycling facilities to expand their business expertise.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the plastic recycling companies to focus on developing chemical recycling technologies for growth, focus on integrating ai-powered robotic systems for efficiency, focus on expanding recycling capacity and innovation, focus on integrating ai-enabled recycling equipment, focus on expanding recycling capacity through advanced facilities, focus on advancing sustainability through innovative recycling initiatives, focus on polyethylene terephthalate segment, focus on films segment, focus on expanding distribution channels, focus on developing competitive pricing strategies, focus on strengthening brand awareness and education, focus on digital and social media engagement and focus on automotive market.