Circular plastics economy

Background

Circular start-ups struggle to scale. This is often not due to the technology, but rather to various economic factors: limited economies of scale, challenges in attracting investment, and a fiscal system that is not designed for the circular economy. What does the economic playing field look like in which circular start-ups and scale-ups must succeed? Which incentives support them, and which ones work against them?

Given the recent wave of bankruptcies in the plastics recycling sector, we decided to select this sector as our first case study.

Research question

The project consists of two phases, each with its own research question:

Phase 1: Which economic incentives sustain linear plastic production at the expense of plastic recycling?

Phase 2: What is needed to create a healthy market for LDPE recycling in the Netherlands, in the run‑up to the 2030 PPWR regulations?

Approach

To answer the research questions, we follow the steps below:

1. Reviewing the existing literature on plastic recycling;
2. Conducting a series of interviews with experts on the challenges of plastic recycling in the Netherlands;
3. Developing a system dynamics model in collaboration with SD&Co, in which various (policy) options can be tested for their impact;
4. Drawing on SD&Co’s affiliation with Tilburg University to involve students from the ‘Supply Chain Dynamics’ course in contributing their thinking to this case;
5. Consolidating the insights into two publications (one scientific and one general‑audience).

Status

The second phase of the research was completed in 2025.

The result

This research will result in two publications:

1. A publicly available publication summarizing the key insights and recommendations (available, led by Copper8);
2. A scientific publication capturing the research findings (forthcoming, led by SD&Co).