European Film Recycling: Status, Challenges & DATABEYOND's Differentiated Solution

Europe's plastic film recycling sector is accelerating toward standardization and high-efficiency sorting, driven by stringent policies and advanced infrastructure upgrades. Recent industry milestones, from certified sorting processes to large-scale recycling facilities, highlight the region's progress—while also exposing unmet needs that innovative technologies are solving.

2025 European Film Recycling: Policy & Infrastructure Breakthroughs

Two key developments define the current landscape: 

- PPWR-driven policy enforcement: The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) officially entered into force on February 11, 2025, with mandatory implementation starting 18 months later. A core requirement is that all packaging on the EU market must be economically recyclable by 2030, while setting clear recycled content targets for plastic films. Notably, the regulation restricts substances like PFAS in films and mandates full traceability of recycling processes—directly pushing plants to upgrade sorting precision. Sweden's "Site Zero" plant became Europe's first facility to earn RecyClass Sorting Process Certification on November 7, 2025, validating its compliance with PPWR's food-contact-grade material standards, as reported by Recycling Today Europe. 

- Infrastructure gaps amid capacity shifts: Preliminary 2025 data from Plastics Recyclers Europe shows European plastic film recycling is facing a critical downturn—polyolefin films account for 25% of recycler closures in 2023-2024, and closures may triple by year-end. While Spain leads in PO film recycling (sourcing 60% from commercial packaging) and Germany maintains the largest overall capacity (2.5 million tons/year), only 45% of existing facilities are equipped with advanced sorting systems. For example, a newly expanded plant in Bavaria, Germany, processes 120,000 tons of LDPE/PP films annually but relies on outdated wind separation, leading to 18% cross-contamination rates.

Core Challenges Facing European Film Sorters

Despite progress, two critical pain points persist: 

- Limited precision in mixed film sorting: NIR technology struggles with thin, contaminated, or multi-layer films—common in agricultural mulch and flexible packaging—leading to cross-contamination of PE and PP fractions. 

- Traceability gaps for certification: Meeting RecyClass requirements demands real-time data on film purity, but most sorters lack integrated systems to track sorting accuracy throughout the process.

DATABEYOND's FASTSORT-FLIM-AI-SPEC: Standing Out in European Markets

DATABEYOND's FASTSORT-FLIM-AI-SPEC Film Optical Sorter addresses these gaps with technology tailored to Europe's regulatory and operational needs, and its reliability has been validated by growing adoption across the region: 

- AI + Hyperspectral Superiority: Unlike traditional NIR, its hyperspectral sensors identify unique molecular signatures of film polymers—achieving high accuracy in separating PE, PP, and multi-layer films, even with contamination. 

- RecyClass-Compliant Traceability: The integrated data system logs real-time sorting data (purity rate, contamination level) and generates audit-ready reports, simplifying RecyClass certification applications. 

- Growing European Project Footprint: A milestone project in Belarus is about to be completed and delivered, designed to process post-consumer flexible packaging annually—solving the country's long-standing issue of low-purity film recycling. Meanwhile, a live site in Eastern Europe has operated stably for 1 year. These projects reflect a clear trend: European recyclers are increasingly trusting DATABEYOND's technology to address their most pressing sorting challenges.

As Europe's film recycling shifts from "volume" to "quality," DATABEYOND's FASTSORT-FLIM-AI-SPEC bridges the gap between policy demands and operational efficiency. For European recyclers aiming to meet RecyClass standards or upgrade existing lines, this technology turns film waste into high-value, traceable resources—strengthening competitiveness in the circular economy.