Cheap plastic from China and the US is threatening sustainable plastic companies

Cheap plastic from China and the United States is threatening Dutch companies that produce, process, and reuse plastic. Organizations from the sector are calling on the Cabinet to ensure more reused plastic is used, otherwise, job opportunities and sustainability will be endangered.

The emergency call came from The Dutch Federation of the Rubber and Plastics Industry (NRK), Plastics Europe, Vereniging Afvalbedrijven (VA), and The Royal Association of the Dutch Chemical Industry (VNCI).

Although plastic consumption is increasing, plastic production is decreasing, and many recycling companies are going bankrupt. The sustainability of the entire chain is at stake, they said.

The Netherlands is the fourth largest producer of plastic in the European Union and is one of the leaders in collecting and recycling plastic waste. Cheap imported plastic is putting this position under pressure.

Dutch reused plastic is currently too expensive to use as raw material for products. Cheap plastic, especially from the United States and China, is currently flooding the Dutch and European markets.

The sector is close to investing billions of euros into new technologies to produce, sort, recycle, and process collected plastics. "We therefore want to recover much more plastic from waste than is currently available for reuse," the industry organizations stated.

They have asked the Cabinet to revise their plastic policies in a joint petition. The current approach will further weaken the chain, they claim, with a possibility of a 40 percent shortage of Dutch manufacturers.

The organizations are asking for an integrated approach, which would involve all the companies in the chain.

According to industry organizations, the basis for a sustainable plastic chain lies in Europe and in European product policy. "We will not solve a global issue with more Dutch legislation. Cooperation in the chain and a well-developed European policy for this is crucial for a healthy, sustainable, and future-proof economy."