Global Mechanical Recycling of Plastic Packaging Waste

AI-based and Robotic Sorting with Innovative Business Platforms Integrate Stakeholders to Enable Collaboration, Transparency, and Material Circularity

The circular economy approach involves initiatives across material and product life cycles, supporting sustainable resource consumption and waste prevention by assimilating high-tech solutions. The global resource management sector is transitioning toward greater digital technology adoption using disruptive smart technologies and platform-based solutions to ensure physical and digital tracking of closed-loop material management.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered material recognition is a disruptive technology that offers high growth potential in current and future applications for efficient waste sorting and recycling. Smart material recovery facilities are implementing a combination of robotic sorting solutions, computer vision, optical sorters, sensors, and AI with the ability to perform complex tasks and detect specific types/shapes/brands of packaging of individual manufacturers.

Stakeholders view mechanical recycling as an excellent example of the circular economy. It significantly reduces waste generation, limits landfilling and plastic pollution, cuts the consumption of virgin materials in polymer production, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Heightened extended producer responsibility (EPR) implemented by fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, rising consumer awareness, and sustainability goals such as the European Union (EU) target of recycling 55% of plastic packaging waste by 2030 drive the demand for circular polymers.

Frost & Sullivan estimates the global mechanical recycling of plastic packaging waste at $15,730.8 million in 2022. We expect it to reach $41,078.7 million in 2030, recording a 12.7% CAGR from 2022 to 2030. The report analyzes current trends shaping global plastic packaging markets and the factors impacting the development of mechanical recycling of plastic packaging.

Other important information includes:

• The distribution of plastic packaging waste recycling facilities, services, and new investments by region, with growth opportunity index by segments
• Growth accelerators shaping mechanical recycling in the circular economy of plastics
• Leading providers of AI-based material recognition and mechanical processing technologies
• Analyses on how AI application in waste recycling supports the development of new markets for secondary materials and creates new business models

Notably, we provide stakeholders insights into a dynamic market influenced by increasing global sustainability imperatives and technological advances, creating new aftermarkets and growth opportunities for participants to explore.