Europe’s 2.8-million-ton gap in sorted plastic input

Insights from Arthur Goujon, Co-founder and CEO

Where are the 2.8 million tons of sorted plastic inputs needed to fuel Europe’s recycling infrastructure?

A recent report by Anchor Group SA has prompted me to reflect on Sorted’s path forward.

• Less than 20% of the sorted plastic inputs required to run chemical and circular packaging facilities by 2030 currently exist.
• Bridging this gap will demand a 5–6x increase in sorting capacity across all materials.
• To achieve this, investments in sorting capabilities are needed, between 5 and 8 billion euros!

The focus of the paper is on using Development Companies (DevCos) to attract new capital to build recycling infrastructure. But before talking about brand new plants, I believe that low-cost, plug and play sorting solutions (like SortBot) are also a crucial part of the equation, as they directly reduce the size of the required investment.

MRFs can increase sorting efficiency and sorted plastic inputs without requiring upfront capital or facility redesign, and without margin impacts.

Reflecting on this has given me even more confidence in what we are building. And while SortBot will not cover the entire 2.8 million tons (yet), I know it is part of the solution!