Advanced Recycling Market Stress

British recycler Plastic Energy has appointed administrators, due to cash flow challenges faced by the company.

Plastic Energy Finco Limited and Plastic Energy Limited will be represented by Geoffrey Rowley and Patrick Donnan of FRP Advisory Trading.

According to the administrators, the companies faced insufficient liquidity available within the group to affect a turnaround plan.

Plastic Energy S.L.U., the entity which owns and operates the two plastic recycling plants in Seville and Almeria, Spain, has not entered into any insolvency process and those plants continue to operate as normal.

The administrators will continue to trade the group’s business whilst they seek to find a buyer and employees are being retained.

Geoff Rowley, joint administrator and partner at FRP, said: “Plastic Energy has developed market leading recycling processes since inception, but has suffered from a European market downturn and accordingly has been unable to evidence sustainable operations.

“Our goal is to sell the group’s primary assets, including the IP and patents held, the shares in group entities (including Plastic Energy S.L.U. holding the recycling plants) and the joint venture interests, to maximise returns for creditors.”

Plastic Energy’s plastic-to-oil process

Founded in 2011, Plastic Energy recycles end-of-life plastics into oil, intended to replace fossil oils in the production of new plastics.

Headquartered at Carter Lane, London, the company employs 200 people across the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, France and remotely.

Its process heats plastics in the absence of oxygen to form hydrocarbon vapours, which are then condensed into a recycled oil, called TACOIL.

The company opened a research and development lab in Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park in November 2022.

Plastics recycling sector faces continued struggles

The liquidation comes during a difficult period for Europe’s plastics recycling industry.

Industry body Plastics Recyclers Europe reported that the sector experienced its “sharpest decline” in 2024.

In its Plastics Recycling Industry Figures 2024 report, the organisation said recycling facilities representing roughly 300 kilotonnes of annual capacity were forced to close during the year – the largest contraction ever recorded by the association.

Preliminary figures for 2025 suggest conditions have deteriorated further. Facility closures are estimated to have risen by around 50%, resulting in the loss of nearly one million tonnes of recycling capacity across Europe over the past three years.

Learn More:

• The financial pressure facing recyclers highlights the importance of advanced recycling and resource recovery solutions with strong commercial fundamentals.
• Technologies such as advanced tyre pyrolysis systems can create diversified revenue streams from difficult waste materials. Proven examples of global recycling and circular economy projects demonstrate the importance of scalable, bankable infrastructure models.
• Explore latest market insights and analysis to track global recycling market developments.

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The Plastic Energy administration highlights a growing market reality: technology innovation alone is not enough—projects must also be commercially resilient.

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