As the doors closed on the tenth-anniversary edition of the Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE 2026) in Amsterdam, I found myself sitting on the plane home doing what I usually do after a major industry event: digesting a mountain of data, technical specs, and insights.
PRSE has grown massively over the last decade, and this year’s event at the RAI Amsterdam felt different. It wasn’t just about making the business case for sustainability anymore. The conversations on the floor and in the panels were deeply technical, pragmatic, and heavily focused on scalability. As someone who spends my days bridging the gap between advanced polymer science and industrial application, this shift from “what if” to “how to” is incredibly exciting.
Here are my major takeaways from PRSE 2026, viewed through a technical and quality assurance lens.
1. The PPWR Reality Check: Scaling Up Upstream Sorting
Unsurprisingly, the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) dominated the legislative panels. The mandate for higher recycled content in packaging is looming large, and the industry is waking up to the practical realities of meeting these targets.
From a quality perspective, achieving these targets is entirely dependent on the purity of our input materials. At IPL Brightgreen, we’ve put a massive emphasis on reducing contamination within polymer streams, which has allowed us to unlock high-performance applications for recycled HDPE and PP.
Walking around the exhibition floor, it was clear that the machinery sector is stepping up to help us scale this. We saw incredible advancements in:
AI-driven optical sorting: Systems that can detect subtle differences between food-grade and non-food-grade packaging.
Fluorescent marker technology: Tracers that allow for unprecedented accuracy in separating polyolefin films and rigid plastics.
To achieve true circularity, the relationship between Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), Plastics Recovery Facilities (PRFs), and reprocessors like us has to become more integrated. We can’t just buy waste; we have to co-engineer the feedstock stream.
2. Mechanical vs. Chemical Recycling: Finding the Synergy
There is often a false narrative in the media that mechanical and chemical recycling are competing for the same crown. At PRSE 2026, the consensus among technical leaders was clear: they are complementary pieces of the same puzzle.
Mechanical recycling remains the most energy-efficient, lowest-carbon method for managing polymers like HDPE and PP. At our facility in Castleford, we prove every day that mechanical processes can yield top-tier, custom-formulated pellets that rival virgin plastic performance.
However, chemical recycling is proving to be a vital safety net for hard-to-recycle, highly contaminated, or multi-layer structures that mechanical processing cannot cleanly isolate. The real technical challenge ahead is creating standard metrics and traceability protocols so that mass-balance outputs from chemical recycling can seamlessly integrate with mechanically recycled polymers without compromising material integrity.
The area I find most interesting is where these techniques overlap, Dissolution recycling. It is fascinating to think about all the ways this technology can be used, to purify streams of high target material removing contaminants or to selectively dissolve target plastics out of waste streams to maximize recovery. These technologies are gaining rapid industry backing with facilities currently being scaled up size.
3. Demanding More from Recycled Polymers
One of my personal highlights was seeing how much the conversation around material standards has evolved. A few years ago, the industry was content with “good enough” recycled pellets. Today, our customers require rigid compliance, exact color-matching, and custom formulations tailored to specific melt flow indices and impact strengths.
At IPL Brightgreen, our testing laboratory is the heart of our operation. Seeing the array of new testing, compounding, and deodorization technologies showcased at PRSE confirms that the rest of the industry is aligning with this quality-first mindset. If we want major brands to displace virgin polymers on a massive scale, we must eliminate the performance penalty entirely.
4. Unlocking the Holy Grail: Food-Grade Circularity
We cannot talk about the future of polyolefins (PP and HDPE) without addressing food-grade recycling. While PET has a well-established food-contact pathway, PP and HDPE are historically much tougher nuts to crack due to their tendency to absorb contaminants during their first life.
The technical panels highlighted some breakthrough trials currently underway in Europe. By combining rigorous decontamination washing sequences, advanced extrusion degassing, and strict upstream sorting, we are closer than ever to unlocking scalable, commercially viable food-grade recycled PP. It requires an absolute obsession with quality assurance and testing protocols—a challenge our technical team is incredibly eager to keep driving forward.
Final Thoughts: The Road Ahead
Leaving Amsterdam, I feel a renewed sense of urgency and optimism. The technology to solve our planet’s plastic waste crisis exists. The legislation to mandate it is catching up. Now, it comes down to execution, collaboration, and uncompromising technical excellence.
At IPL Brightgreen, we are ready to take these insights from the global stage and apply them directly to our production lines, ensuring that recycled plastic isn’t just an eco-friendly alternative—but the superior choice.
By Jonathan Attwood, Head of Technical and Quality at IPL Brightgreen
Did you attend PRSE this year? What innovations or legislative updates stood out the most to you? Let’s connect and discuss how we can collaborate to drive the industry forward.