{"id":13636,"date":"2026-10-23T09:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T06:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/?p=13636"},"modified":"2026-10-23T09:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T06:43:08","slug":"plastainability-2026-europe-plastics-resilience-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/plastainability-2026-europe-plastics-resilience-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastainability 2026: Europe&#8217;s Plastics Sector Seeks a Resilience Strategy Amid Disruption"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Athens, October 19, 2026 &#8211; <\/em>The European plastics sector is navigating one of its most complex periods: tightening regulation, rising energy costs and a circular economy transition that demands investment at scale. <strong>Plastainability 2026<\/strong>, the AHPI\u2019s fourth annual conference held October 19 at NCSR Demokritos in Athens, brought together policymakers, converters and researchers to chart a path forward.<\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_87 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/plastainability-2026-europe-plastics-resilience-strategy\/#Circularity_as_an_Economic_Imperative\" >Circularity as an Economic Imperative<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/plastainability-2026-europe-plastics-resilience-strategy\/#Europes_48000_Converters_Under_Pressure\" >Europe&#8217;s 48,000 Converters Under Pressure<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/plastainability-2026-europe-plastics-resilience-strategy\/#Greek_Resilience_Amid_Continental_Decline\" >Greek Resilience Amid Continental Decline<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/plastainability-2026-europe-plastics-resilience-strategy\/#Looking_Ahead\" >Looking Ahead<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Circularity_as_an_Economic_Imperative\"><\/span><strong>Circularity as an Economic Imperative<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Opening the conference, AHPI President <strong>Panagiotis Gerontopoulos<\/strong> stressed that packaging converters and raw material producers are committed to long-term environmental protection, but that European targets must be anchored in practical realities. He pointed to continued delays in Greece\u2019s national Deposit Return System as evidence that coordinated public-private dialogue remains urgent.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In her keynote, EU Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience, and a Competitive Circular Economy <strong>Jessika Roswall<\/strong> outlined the goals of the upcoming Circular Economy Act: stimulating demand for recycled polymers, establishing an EU-wide single market for secondary raw materials, leveling the playing field against non-EU imports and simplifying compliance for businesses.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Europes_48000_Converters_Under_Pressure\"><\/span><strong>Europe&#8217;s 48,000 Converters Under Pressure<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The new EuPC Director General <strong>Erich Cuaz<\/strong> outlined the scale of the sector: 48,000 companies, 1.3 million workers and over 270 billion euros in turnover, accounting for 90 % of all businesses and jobs across the EU plastics value chain.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cuaz presented data showing that the packaging net export margins narrowed from 12 % to 9 %. On circularity, the numbers were equally sobering: the EU circularity rate moved from 10.7 % in 2010 to just 12.2 % in 2024, an increase of only 1.5 % over 14 years, far short of the 24 % target for 2030.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">To reverse these trends, the EuPC called for five measures:<\/p>\n<ol style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><strong>Regulatory certainty<\/strong> under the PPWR<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mandatory recycled content auditing<\/strong> for non-EU imports<\/li>\n<li><strong>End-to-end trade flow monitoring<\/strong> covering downstream converters rather than stopping at raw resin<\/li>\n<li><strong>Harmonized EU End-of-Waste criteria<\/strong> so recycled pellets move freely across EU borders under identical standards<\/li>\n<li><strong>Industrial energy cost competitiveness<\/strong> with overseas competitors<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-13632\" src=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/plastainability-1024x768.png\" alt=\"Plastainability 2026 panel discussion on deindustrialization and value chain resilience at NCSR Demokritos, Athens\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/plastainability-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/plastainability-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/plastainability-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/plastainability.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Greek_Resilience_Amid_Continental_Decline\"><\/span><strong>Greek Resilience Amid Continental Decline<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During Panel 1, the General Director of Industry from the <strong>Ministry of Development<\/strong> contrasted European and Greek performance. Europe&#8217;s share of global plastics production fell from 22 % in 2006 to 12 % in 2024. By contrast, ELSTAT data showed Greek sales of rubber and plastic products holding steady at 2.14 billion euros in 2024.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">To sustain this base, the Ministry highlighted a new Special Spatial Framework for Industry and Logistics, a revised Development Law with a <strong>mandatory 90-day evaluation deadline<\/strong> for investment projects and enhanced customs and market surveillance against non-compliant imports.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">MACPAC AE CEO <strong>Stefanos Papazoglou<\/strong> reinforced this picture from the converter side, noting that Greek producers face growing pressure from third-country suppliers operating under lower energy costs and less restrictive standards. Despite continuous crisis management since 2010, from the sovereign debt crisis through COVID-19 and successive energy shocks, the sector continues to export and invest.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Looking_Ahead\"><\/span><strong>Looking Ahead<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The conference\u2019s recurring conclusion was clear: circularity and competitiveness must advance together. For Europe\u2019s packaging value chain, that means predictable regulation, harmonized standards, enforceable import controls and material evaluation grounded in evidence. Without these foundations, speakers warned, the circular transition risks accelerating deindustrialization rather than preventing it. As EU targets tighten and global trade dynamics shift, the need for coordinated action between industry, national governments and European institutions is becoming harder to defer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Pack-Lab attended Plastainability 2026, staying close to the policy and industry shifts that define the European packaging landscape. Now in its fourth consecutive year, the AHPI conference has established itself as a central forum for dialogue between converters, regulators and researchers, and a reference point for the strategic direction of Europe\u2019s plastics and packaging sector.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The fourth annual Plastainability conference addressed Europe\u2019s stalled circularity rate, the need for verified recycled content on imports and Greece\u2019s steady performance in a contracting continental market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":13632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,572],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-pack-news-en","category-28","category-572","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13636"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13639,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13636\/revisions\/13639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}