Sky-rocketing energy prices pose a vital risk to European recyclers

Major European recycling companies, including SMEs, have already significantly reduced or entirely suspended production. In these exceptional circumstances, the sector is urging policymakers to enact immediate financial aid to prevent significant long-term damage to European recycling.

“Recycling is an intricate process that operates uninterrupted for 7 days a week. We cannot simply turn our production on and off like a light switch, “says Olivier François, President of the European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC). “Europe’s recyclers are unable to cope with soaring energy costs and this poses a direct threat to Europe’s climate neutral and circular economy ambitions and to the green local jobs we sustain,” he added.

While the recycling industry has grown steadily in Europe, driven largely by vibrant entrepreneurship and incentives to use more recycled materials in products, only 12% of materials used in production in the EU are from recycling. Mounting energy prices are now reversing this progress, bringing recycling companies, particularly SMEs, to their knees.

In this context, it is important to stress that recycling not only saves significant CO2 emissions but also energy when compared to the extraction of raw materials. Therefore, we urge European policymakers to act coherently to incentivise the use of recycled materials through the implementation of carbon credits, green public procurement, and binding recycled content targets.