Prospects for improving the Circular Economy of Plastics

Plastics now play a central role in the global economy. Their production has grown exponentially over the past six decades, from 15 million tons in 1964 to 311 million tons in 2014, reaching nearly 460 million tons in 2024 –, a 30-fold increase compared to 1960s levels! It is expected to reach 600 million tons in 2035, as this material finds ever more applications.

Despite its many advantages, the current plastics economy, which remains highly linear, has major drawbacks that are becoming increasingly apparent, particularly with regard to the treatment of end-of-life plastic packaging. This economy remains extremely fragmented. The lack of standards and coordination throughout the value chain encourages the proliferation of materials, formats, labeling, collection systems, and sorting and reprocessing systems which, collectively, hinder the development of a truly circular economy in terms of waste reduction based on its four pillars: reduction, reuse, recycling, and resource recovery (4Rs). Therefore, without eco-design of products driven by or based on end-of-life considerations, the majority of plastic objects are generally transformed into lower-value applications (downcycling) that are not or only minimally recyclable after a second life. The main difficulty in recycling plastics lies in the presence of carbon-carbon bonds that are very difficult to break, unlike other materials. In addition, the wide variety of polymers, their formulations, and their functional properties make plastic recycling particularly complex, despite their ubiquity resulting from their great versatility of use. It is therefore important to favor plastics that are easiest to recycle and recover in a circular economy, promoting recyclable and biodegradable materials.

Given the global value chains and international trade in plastics, aligning design methods, material choices, sorting and recovery technologies, and chemical regulations would be fundamental to improving their circularity and creating a real end-of-life economy. On the one hand, chemistry can play an essential role in developing new technologies and materials that promote the circular economy by creating more sustainable, recyclable, and environmentally friendly products. On the other hand, artificial intelligence can be used to improve waste sorting processes by automatically identifying and classifying different types of materials using advanced learning techniques for recognizing shapes, colors, and material types in order to facilitate their recycling and recovery.

Finally, to promote the circular economy for plastics, it will be essential to adopt a differentiated approach to the eco-design of plastics. This involves taking into account their composition, lifespan, recyclability, and short- and...