2026.05.26
European plastics industry under pressure: geopolitics, costs and regulation challenge competitiveness at Plastpol 2026
On 18 May 2026, on the eve of Plastpol at Targi Kielce, Poland, more than 100 representatives of the plastics industry gathered for the Plastics Industry Meeting to address three structural pressures reshaping the sector: geopolitical instability, rising costs and an increasingly complex regulatory environment. The central question was how Europe can maintain a level playing field in the global plastics market without weakening its own industrial base.
2026.05.26
PPWR: 79 days to go — what changes for the plastics packaging industry on 12 August 2026
The countdown is on: on 12 August 2026, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation EU 2025/40) becomes mandatory across all EU member states, with no national transposition. With fewer than 80 days to the deadline, Europe's packaging industry is navigating compliance pressure, implementation uncertainties and a failed last-minute attempt by single-use packaging producers to delay the regulation.