Bio-Based Plastics Recycling Breakthrough Gains Momentum in Europe – Polymer Price Trends
Bio-based plastics recycling – Full price table (17/08/2026 →24/08/2026)
| ITEM | 17/08/2026 | 24/08/2026 | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottle grade PET chips domestic market | 7,550 yuan/ton | 7,730 yuan/ton | +180 |
| Chinese bottle-grade PET chips FOB export price | 1,010 $/ton | 1,050 $/ton | +40 |
| LDPE CFR Est China | 1,040 $/ton | 1,080 $/ton | +30 |
| PET Semidull — Fiber chips | 7,230 yuan/ton | 7,350 yuan/ton | +120 |
| PET Bright — Fiber chips | 7,230 yuan/ton | 7,350 yuan/ton | +120 |
| Pure Terephthalic Acid PTA domestic market | 6,200 yuan/ton | 6,440 yuan/ton | +240 |
| Pure Terephthalic Acid PTA FOB China | 830 $/ton | 830 $/ton | – |
| Monoethyleneglycol (MEG) South China | 5,537 yuan/ton | 6,083 yuan/ton | +546 |
| Monoethyleneglycol (MEG) CFR China | 670 $/ton | 725 $/ton | +55 |
| Paraxylene PX FOB Taiwan market | 1,083 $/ton | 1,094 $/ton | +11 |
| Paraxylene PX FOB South-Korea market | 1,072 $/ton | 1,083 $/ton | +11 |
| Paraxylene PX FOB EU market | 1,285 $/ton | 1,336 $/ton | +51 |
| Polyester filament POY 150D/48F domestic market | 8,550 yuan/ton | 8,950 yuan/ton | +400 |
| Recycled Polyester filament POY 150/48F domestic market | 7,200 yuan/ton | 7,200 yuan/ton | – |
| Polyester filament DTY 150D/48F domestic market | 9,450 yuan/ton | 9,850 yuan/ton | +400 |
| Polyester filament FDY 68D/24F | 9,400 yuan/ton | 9,750 yuan/ton | +350 |
| Polyester filament FDY 150D/96F domestic market | 8.750 yuan/ton | 9,100 yuan/ton | +350 |
| Polyester staple fiber 1.4D 38mm domestic market | 7,710 yuan/ton | 7,830 yuan/ton | +120 |
| Caprolactam (CPL) domestic market | 12,225 yuan/ton | 12,925 yuan/ton | +700 |
| Caprolactam (CPL) CFR China | 1,460 $/ton | 1,840 $/ton | +420 |
| Nylon 6 chips overseas market |
Northeast Asia / China (FOB Benchmark): ~$1.70 – $1.80 / kg Southeast Asia (CFR / FOB): ~$2.05 – $2.15 / kg North America (FOB / US Gulf): ~$2.85 – $2.95 / kg Europe (FOB / CFR): ~$2.60 – $2.70 / kg Middle East: ~$2.05 – $2.15 / kg
|
China / Northeast Asia (CFR Spot) $1,700 – $1,820 Southeast Asia (CFR) $2,100 – $2,150 Europe (FD/CFR Western Europe) $2,120 – $2,670 .North America (Delivered / Ex-Works)$2,900 – $2,940
|
– |
| Nylon 6 chips conventional spinning domestic market | 12,450 yuan/ton | 13,100 yuan/ton | +650 |
| Nylon 6 chips high speed spinning domestic market | 12,750 yuan/ton | 13,250 yuan/ton | +500 |
| Nylon 6.6 chips domestic market | 16,700 yuan/ton | 16,700 yuan/ton | – |
| Nylon6 Filament POY 86D/24F domestic market | 14,000 yuan/ton | 14,500 yuan/ton | +500 |
| Nylon6 Filament DTY 70D/24F domestic market | 16,100 yuan/ton | 16,600 yuan/ton | +500 |
| Nylon6 Filament FDY 70D/24F | 14,100 yuan/ton | 14,500 yuan/ton | +400 |
| Spandex 20D domestic market | 31,700 yuan/ton | 31,700 yuan/ton | – |
| Spandex 30D domestic market | 31,200 yuan/ton | 31,200 yuan/ton | – |
| Spandex 40D domestic market | 28,500 yuan/ton | 28,500 yuan/ton | – |
| Adipic Acid China domestic market | 8,150 yuan/ton | 8,375 yuan/ton | +225 |
| Adipic Acid Europe market | 1,800 $/ton | 1,900 $/ton | +100 |
| Benzene domestic market East China | 8,000 yuan/ton | 8,200 yuan/ton | +200 |
| Benzene CFR China | 930 $/ton | 1,115 $/ton | +185 |
| Ethylene South East market | 940 $/ton | 1,000 $/ton | +60 |
| Ethylene NWE market CIF | 963 $/ton | 893 $/ton | -70 |
| Acrylonitrile (ACN) domestic market | 12,050 yuan/ton | 12,200 yuan/ton | +150 |
| Acrylonitrile ACN Southeast Asia | 1,500 $/ton | 1,445 $/ton | -55 |
| Acrylic staple fiber (ASF) CFR China | 15,855 yuan/ton | 15,905 yuan/ton | +50 |
| VSF viscose staple fiber | 14,200 yuan/ton | 14,300 yuan/ton | +100 |
| PP Powder domestic market | 10,140 yuan/ton | 10,300 yuan/ton | +160 |
| Naphtha overseas market | 741 $/ton | 757 $/ton | +16 |
| Phenol domestic market (Jinan Dezheng / Yanshan Petrochemical, Shandong) | 8,080 yuan/ton | 8,305 yuan/ton | +225 |
| Recycled PET | 4,200 yuan/ton | 4,350 yuan/ton | +150 |
Bio-Based Plastics Recycling Breakthrough Gains Momentum in Europe
Published: 22 August 2026
Bio-based plastics recycling may be closer to commercial reality after a large European trial demonstrated that optical sorting equipment can identify and separate several types of bio-based packaging from mixed household waste.
The findings are encouraging, particularly for rigid packaging. However, they do not mean that every bio-based or biodegradable plastic can now be placed in conventional recycling bins. Collection rules, material composition and local waste infrastructure still determine the correct disposal route.
Key findings at a glance
- Four tonnes of mixed packaging material were prepared for the trials.
- Biopolyester rigid packaging achieved a reported sorting yield of 93%.
- The separated polylactic acid, or PLA, stream reached 93% purity.
- The biopolyester rigid stream reached approximately 80% purity.
- Bio-based films recorded a 45% yield and roughly 75% purity after one optical sorting step.
- Operational trials are planned at waste facilities in Italy, France and Spain.
These figures were reported on 21 August by the EU-backed Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking. They are project results rather than proof that a complete commercial recycling system is already operating across Europe.
Why bio-based packaging is difficult to recycle
“Bio-based,” “biodegradable” and “compostable” are not interchangeable descriptions.
A bio-based plastic is made wholly or partly from biological resources. That does not automatically make it biodegradable or suitable for composting. Conversely, biodegradability describes how a material breaks down under specified conditions, not where its raw material originated.
This distinction matters at a sorting facility. Conventional recycling plants are generally configured to recognise established materials such as polyethylene, or PE, and polyethylene terephthalate, better known as PET. Bio-based PLA, starch blends and certain biopolyesters may not have their own recognised sorting category.
If a facility cannot identify them, these materials can enter an unsuitable recycling stream or be rejected from material recovery altogether.
How the new sorting trials worked
The trials were conducted by the EU-funded PROSPER project with the Netherlands-based National Test Centre Circular Plastics.
Instead of testing only clean samples in a laboratory, researchers attempted to reproduce the conditions found in household packaging waste. Municipal waste was mixed and compressed with PLA cups and trays, starch-blend films and biopolyester products.
Near-infrared sensors were then trained to recognise the materials’ optical signatures. Vision-based classification and a dedicated film sorter were also introduced during the second trial in May 2026.
The approach builds on technology already used at many material recovery facilities. Its potential advantage is that operators may be able to add new identification programs and sorting stages without replacing an entire processing line.
Rigid packaging produced the strongest results
The clearest progress involved rigid items.
The sorting system recovered a reported 93% of the targeted biopolyester rigid packaging. The separated PLA fraction also reached 93% purity, meaning that most of the material in that output stream was PLA.
Yield and purity measure different outcomes. Yield indicates how much of the target material was recovered, while purity indicates how little unrelated material remained in the separated fraction. A commercially useful recycling stream generally needs both.
The biopolyester rigid output reached around 80% purity. PROSPER’s researchers believe another clean-up stage could improve this result, but that expectation must still be demonstrated under operational conditions.
Flexible films remain the tougher problem
Bio-based films were more difficult to recover.
A single optical sorting step produced a reported yield of 45% and purity of about 75%. These results suggest that the machine could recognise much of the selected material, but more than half of the target film was not recovered in that pass.
Thin, flexible packaging is difficult to handle because it can fold, overlap other objects and move unpredictably on conveyor belts. Additional recovery and clean-up stages may raise performance, but they also require space, energy and investment.
The film results should therefore be viewed as a promising technical starting point rather than evidence of immediate commercial viability.
What the PPWR changes
The timing is important because the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, began to apply generally on 12 August 2026.
The regulation entered into force on 11 February 2025—not in August 2026. August is its general application date. This distinction corrects an ambiguity in the source announcement and is confirmed by the European Commission’s packaging-waste guidance.
Among the measures already applying are limits on PFAS in food-contact packaging. Further provisions will be introduced in stages. From 2030, packaging placed on the EU market will need to be recyclable, while other rules will address recycled content, waste prevention and selected single-use formats. The Commission outlined that timetable when the new packaging rules began to apply.
For bio-based packaging, recyclable design is only part of the equation. A material also needs collection, identification, sorting and an economically workable destination.
The next test is inside operating waste facilities
PROSPER’s next phase will take the technology beyond the Dutch test centre.
Further trials are planned with A2A in Italy, SUEZ in France and FCC Medio Ambiente in Spain. These tests should reveal how the system performs with varying waste compositions, plant layouts and contamination levels.
Researchers will also investigate washing and other pretreatment processes before sending recovered plastics to mechanical or chemical recycling. The project, which runs until August 2028, aims to assess technical performance, environmental effects and financial feasibility—not sorting accuracy alone.
What the results do not prove
The trial does not establish that all bio-based plastics are environmentally preferable to fossil-based alternatives. That assessment depends on feedstock production, manufacturing, transport, product use and end-of-life treatment.
Nor does it create a universal disposal instruction for consumers. Packaging labelled as industrially compostable may belong in an organic-waste collection system in one municipality and residual waste in another. Local guidance should always take priority.
What the trial does demonstrate is narrower but valuable: selected bio-based rigid plastics and films can be recognised in realistic mixed-waste conditions when optical sorters are specifically configured for them. bio-based plastics recycling
A possible new recycling stream
Dedicated bio-based plastics recycling will require more than a successful machine trial. Waste operators need sufficient material volumes, stable buyers for recovered outputs and clear collection and labelling systems. Producers may also need to help finance the infrastructure through extended producer-responsibility arrangements.
Nevertheless, the rigid-packaging results provide evidence that sorting is not an insurmountable technical barrier. Trials in operating plants will now determine whether that performance can be repeated consistently and affordably.
If they succeed, bio-based plastics could gain a defined route through Europe’s recycling system instead of becoming an unidentified fraction of mixed packaging waste.
Frequently asked questions
Can bio-based plastics go in a conventional recycling bin?
Not automatically. Disposal depends on the polymer, packaging design and collection system available locally. Consumers should follow the label and municipal waste guidance.
Are all bio-based plastics compostable?
No. “Bio-based” refers to the origin of the raw material. It does not guarantee biodegradability or compostability.
What is near-infrared sorting?
Near-infrared sorting uses reflected light to distinguish materials according to their characteristic spectral signatures. Air jets can then direct recognised items into separate streams.
Is the PROSPER process commercially available?
The technology has been tested at an industrially relevant scale, but trials in operational waste facilities are still ahead. Its full costs, repeatability and environmental performance have not yet been established.
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