Chemical Recycling Market

Chemical Recycling Industry Snapshot

The chemical recycling market is expanding rapidly with governments and industries around the world emphasizing environmentally-friendly waste management processes. Circular chemistry in chemical recycling is different from mechanical recycling such that it breaks down advanced plastic recycling waste into its molecular components and allows for the production of high-quality recycled products.

This report has been compiled with the objective to submit a comprehensive study of the market, its size, key trends, challenges, and competition. The aim of this research is to present a comprehensive picture of the industry drivers, right from regulatory intervention to technology advancements and market conditions.

Increased demand is being witnessed for sustainable solutions, and organizations are investing in innovative measures aimed at enhancing efficiency and lowering costs, thereby making way for growth of the market. The industry will witness a strong growth, driven by rising awareness amongst the consumers, regulatory pressure to conserve the environment, and company-wide efforts toward circular economy principles.

Introduction to the Chemical Recycling Market

The purpose of this report is to study the chemical recycling market, size, opportunities, and challenges. With the world facing plastic waste crisis, circular chemistry in chemical recycling comes across a clean solution in the form of recovering advanced plastic recycling waste to become high-value raw materials for the other sectors. The report will provide a detailed insight into the status of the market, potential for future growth, and the competitive environment.

The market scope is worldwide, including the major regional trends and market drivers. The study considers various chemical recycling technologies including pyrolysis, future of depolymerization in plastic recycling, and gasification, and examines their adoption and impact. The report also contains market segmentation analysis by application, end-user industries, and geographic spread.

Methodology adopted in this research involves the use of primary and secondary sources of information. Primary information consists of interviews with industry players, company representatives, and market stakeholders.

Secondary information consists of information gathered from industry reports, company websites, government reports, and market databases. Quantitative analysis involving estimation of market size of chemical recycling technologies worldwide and computation of growth rates is done using industry-standard forecasting models.

Market Overview: Growth of the Chemical Recycling Market

The market size of chemical recycling technologies worldwide is US$ 14.2 Bn in 2024 and is growing at ~5.1% CAGR in the years to come. This is due to government policies calling for greater recycling rates, company sustainability pledges, and advances in molecular recycling technology.

Key Market Trends in the Chemical Recycling Market

• Technological Progress in Circular Chemistry in Chemical Recycling Procedures: pyrolysis, sustainable polymer recovery, and gasification that improve efficiency, reduce overheads, thereby making circular economy initiatives in chemical recycling a viable alternative to traditional mechanical recycling methods.
• Collaboration Between Waste Management Companies and Plastic Manufacturers: Companies are inking strategic partnerships to increase the collection of advanced plastic recycling waste collection, sorting and processing, which ensures a stable supply of molecular recycling material and improves the total recovery rate in industries.
• Increasing Demand for Chemical Recycled Plastic in Industries: packaging, automotive industry, emerging trends in chemical recycling for textiles, and consumables are introduced to meet the stability targets, reduce carbon footprints, and to comply with environmental regulation

Industry Analysis

SWOT Analysis of the Chemical Recycling Industry

• Strengths: Unlike mechanical recycling methods that degrade plastics, chemical recycling yields high-quality raw materials, thereby opening up avenues to recycling contaminated plastics. Growing regulatory support and incentives have become the nudge toward industry investments.
• Weaknesses: The extreme capital and operational costs make it hard to consider. The technological inefficiencies contribute toward underlarge scale adoption, while less awareness amongst consumers and an inadequate waste collection infrastructure impede the feedstock availability and slow down the expansion of the market.
• Opportunities: Corporate sustainability commitments increasingly serve to push chemically recycled plastic demand. AI and automation will increase process efficiency, while rapidly changing global regulations such as the EU Green Deal will create a window for investment into market growth.
• Threats: Competition from mechanical recycling and biodegradable plastics is likely to threaten market adoption. Due to high volatility in crude oil prices, this conflict affects its cost-competitiveness. Also, the inconsistency in regulatory frameworks within regions brings uncertainty, which is detrimental to the long-term growth of the industry.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

• Threat of New Entrants (Moderate): Entry barriers exist in terms of high capital investment and technical expertise, but growth in demand and governments’ support inviting newcomers encourages their entry.
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers (High): Availability of feedstock presents the big challenge for advanced plastic recycling waste being retrieved from appropriate collection and sorting systems to convert into circular economy initiatives in chemical recycling.
• Bargaining Power of Buyers (Moderate to High): Big corporations and manufacturers expect high recycled plastic standards exerting pressure on chemical recyclers for improving efficiency and reduce costs.
• Threat of Substitutes (High): Mechanical recycling, biodegradability, and bio-based alternatives are a threat to expanding the market's potential.
• Industry Rivalry (High): The advanced molecular recycling technologies market is highly competitive, with both - start-ups and established companies vying to develop innovative approaches to recycling.

Target Market for the Chemical Recycling Market

The circular economy initiatives in chemical recycling industry has established an abundant number of markets for different industries. Most of these industries are committed to sustainability, minimizing environmental footprints and conforming to regulations.

The particular focus is on the other industries such as packaging, automotive, emerging trends in chemical recycling for textiles, and consumer goods, which use chemically recycled plastics in their supply chains. It also includes government agencies and environmental organizations that demand such types of services to promote waste sustainability actions.

From the psychographic angle, the market consists of commercial businesses and customers that believe in being responsible toward the environment along with the importance of circularity. Chemically advanced plastic recycling are an end product in the light of companies investing in sustainability and having carbon footprints reduced.

Corporate sustainability goals, regulations, and consumer preferences influence buying behavior in the market. Due to increasing pressure from governments and environmental advocacy groups, large corporates are beginning to incorporate chemically recycled materials into their products.

Government agencies fund and provide policy incentives for chemical recycling projects. Consumers, on the other hand, have recently indicated preference towards brands that source recycled materials, thereby putting pressure on businesses to adopt chemical recycling solutions.

Competitive Landscape: Key Players in the Chemical Recycling Market

The major multinational companies such as Agilyx, BASF SE, SABIC, Eastman Chemical Company, JEPLAN, Inc., Recycling Technologies, Veolia Environment S.A., Loop Industries, Inc., Plastic Energy, Carbios, GFL Environmental Inc., Clean Harbours, Inc., Brightmark, and others dominate the chemical recycling industry.

The industry is fragmented with a combination of legacy chemical firms, recycling businesses, and new startups. Big players such as BASF and SABIC are making their way into the sector through acquisitions and joint ventures. Start-ups focused on new chemical recycling technologies are capturing market share by establishing strategic alliances with leading brands.

• In February 2024, BASF has opened up its ChemCycling project in the United States. For the first time ever, the Germany-based chemical giant has produced its Ccycled products in the U.S. soil from pyrolysis oil based on advanced plastic recycling waste as feedstock.
• In October 2023, PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG) signed the final investment decision (FID) to develop Asia's biggest advanced chemical recycling plant with a capacity of 33 kilo-tons per year (ktpa). The said plant, situated in Pengerang, Johor, is expected to be operational in the first half of 2026. Also, during this FID release, PCG's subsidiary executed the Technology License Agreement (TLA) with Plastic Energy Limited (Plastic Energy) while the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) award was given to Mutiara Etnik Sdn. Bhd.

Market Segmentation

• By Product Type:
  • Polyethylene (PE)
  • Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
  • Polypropylene (PP)
  • Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
  • Polystyrene (PS)
  • Polycarbonate
  • Others
• By End-use:
  • Packaging
  • Automotive
  • Building & Construction
  • Electronics
  • Others
• By Region:
  • North America
  • Europe
  • Asia Pacific
  • Latin America
  • Middle East & Africa