July 30, 2025 15:16

After months of warnings from industry associations about the deteriorating state of plastics recycling in Europe, plant shutdowns are starting to multiply.

In recent days, Veolia Deutschland announced that it will shutter its MultiPet and Multiport facilities in Bernburg, Germany, by the end of the year.

Commissioned in 1991 and 2001, respectively, and part of the Veolia group since 2017, the two units recycle waste streams based on PET and high-density polyethylene (HDPE), with a combined treatment capacity of 70,000 metric tons per year.

“From our Bernburg plants, we have supplied customers across Europe with recycled HDPE and PET,” said Guido Adomßent, CEO of Veolia Umweltservice. “High processing costs and persistently low prices for virgin feedstock have fundamentally undermined the profitability of these sites, which can no longer be operated on an economically sustainable basis under current conditions.”

Veolia will remain active in the circular economy through sorting and pretreating plastic waste, but the material will be reprocessed at other Veolia plants in the Netherlands and France.

© Polimerica -  Reproduction prohibited, all rights reserved