BRUSSELS, Dec 23 (Reuters) – The European Union will introduce stricter rules for imports of plastics, the European Commission stated on Tuesday, as it attempts to support European recycling plants that are struggling to compete with cheaper imports.
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A particular concern is that cheap virgin plastic – new material built from raw fossil fuels, rather than recycled plastic built from applyd materials – is being mislabelled as recycled, putting local recyclers at a disadvantage as their recycled plastic cannot compete on price.
The European Commission, the EU executive body, stated it would propose legal modifys in the first half of 2026 to require stricter documentation for imports of recycled plastics. Another proposal will create separate customs codes for recycled and virgin plastics, to create it simpler to track imports.
“The recycling sector is facing high energy costs, low and unpredictable prices for virgin plastic (linked to oil prices) and competition from imports of cheap plastics (often virgin plastics wrongly claimed to be recycled),” the Commission stated in a document setting out the plans.
Other measures will include EU audits of recycling plants, including outside of Europe, and support for laboratories to run control checks on whether shipments of recycled plastic are genuine.
Brussels will also consider whether it is necessary to introduce trade measures. An EU import surveillance tquestion force will monitor plastics imports during 2026, the Commission stated.
The EU has already imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese PET plastic – the type applyd to create bottles – to address imports which Brussels stated were so cheap they forced EU companies to sell at a loss to compete.
Six European countries, including France, Spain and the Netherlands, questioned the EU last month to take further action against imports of low-quality recycled plastics which they stated were being sold at heavily discounted prices.
The EU also proposed rules specifying how chemically recycled products can count towards EU requirements for products to include recycled materials.
Editing by Timothy Heritage
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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