3.
Valipac
3.1. Results of mapping in 2025
The annual mapping report systematically documents recycling channels, from collectors and traders to final recyclers. In total, the route taken by 67,850 tonnes of industrial and commercial plastic packaging waste was fully mapped in 2025 for the 2024 operating year. This plastic packaging waste was recycled in Europe, the Far East or the Middle East (mainly Turkey). The total quantity recorded increased compared with the mapping reports in 2021 (+9,800 tonnes), 2022 (+3,100 tonnes), 2023 (+1,756 tonnes) and 2024 (+1,564 tonnes). The decrease in the amount of recycled industrial plastic packaging in Europe in 2024 compared with 2023 is largely due to rising energy costs in Europe.
Europe
EU + non- EU28,633 tonnes
Far East
24,833 tonnes
Middle East
14,384 tonnes
Total
67,850 tonnes
Combined with the quantity of waste (29.9%) going directly to final processors, trading efforts in 2025 take overall traceability of plastic waste for 2024 to more than 97.9%.
In 2024, 51.6% of recycled cardboard went directly to a final purchaser, and 46.8% was sold by operators or traders with whom Valipac has a contract. The accredited compliance organisation ended 2024 with nine contracts with cardboard traders. This meant that Valipac achieved a traceability level of 98.3% for 2024, and its efforts in this area continue unabated.
3.2. Audit results
Since 2021 the accredited compliance organisation has been arranging audits of recycling companies located outside the EU. This concerns both plastic and paper/cardboard.
In 2025, Valipac commissioned 43 audits of companies recycling industrial and commercial plastic waste, thanks to contracts with 19 plastic traders. This took the total number of non-EU companies already audited to 140 (including 45 two-yearly re-audits or unannounced audits of previously audited purchasers). The substantial budget allocated by Valipac for this purpose and requests for cooperation from other European EPR organisations have so far resulted in formal collaboration with EPR organisations for packaging in the Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland and Luxembourg.
In its 2024 results, Valipac takes into account the quantities of plastic that recycling companies outside the EU have accepted, but that cannot be included in the recycling results because of minimum criteria and an adverse audit report.
The number of red-flagged companies (i.e. those with an adverse audit opinion) for plastic was eight by the end of 2025 (one fewer than the previous year). Valipac disseminates this blacklist to traders to make them aware of the problem and encourage them to remedy the situation. Waste operators can log on to a web application and check scores to encourage them to exclude purchasers who trade with blacklisted companies. This also enables operators to guarantee maximum recycling incentives for unpackers.
3.3. Overview of final recycling destinations
The various materials had the following industrial and commercial destinations in 2024:
Wood
Paper/cardboard
Plastic
Ferrous metals
