EU Cracks Down on Greece's Plastic Recycling Scandal: €11.9 Million Project Plunged Into Violation Maelstrom

The European Union's patience with Greece in the environmental protection sector is wearing thin. The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) recently announced a criminal investigation into plastic recycling projects in Athens, the Peloponnese, and Crete, involving at least 11.9 million euros of EU subsidy funds. This case has brought the long-standing chaos in Greece's plastic recycling sector into the spotlight.

According to the audit report disclosed by EPPO, the contract signed in 2020 between the Greek environmental protection authorities and the local company TEXAN for the construction of plastic recycling stations contains serious flaws.The company won the bid at a price five times higher than the market rate.In three regions, 150 recycling stations for plastic, metal, and glass were established. However, shockingly, these so-called "smart recycling" facilities did not install any tracking systems during actual operation.

In the entire year of 2023, we were unable to verify the final destination of any ton of recycled plastic, the audit report pointed out. TEXAN only set up a temporary storage site on the island of Crete and did not establish any sorting and processing procedures. Even more bizarre, the market research report cited by the company during the bidding process actually came from a shell company with which it has vested interests.

The regulatory negligence of the Greek Environmental Agency (EDSNA) is equally shocking. The audit found that the agency did not conduct any cost-benefit analysis during the bidding process and even approved a total budget of 22 million euros (with an EU subsidy of 11.9 million euros) after discovering that TEXAN's bid was overpriced. This kind of "guarding the henhouse" operation directly led to Greece being fined 2.9 million euros by the EU in 2023, with the penalty amount soaring to 3 million euros in 2024.

The latest environmental report from the EU reveals an even harsher truth:In 2024, the municipal plastic recycling rate in Greece was only 17.5%.The above-average level is 31.5 percentage points lower than the EU average, ranking fourth from the bottom among the 27 countries. More critically, about 43,000 tons of plastic packaging in the country are neither landfilled nor recycled each year, which is equivalent to 86 kilograms of plastic waste "disappearing into thin air" every minute.

This out-of-control situation is directly reflected in the EU's fines. According to the "EU Plastics Strategy," member states are required to achieve a 55% municipal plastic recycling rate by 2025, but Greece's actual completion rate is less than one-third. As a result, Brussels has issued fines totaling 23 million euros to Athens, with 12.7 million euros just in 2024.

Greece's predicament reflects the common challenges faced by the European plastic recycling industry. According to S&P Global data, although the global recycled plastics market will reach $50 billion by 2024,The cost of chemical recycling technology is still 2-3 times that of virgin plastics.The report by the Greek think tank IOBE pointed out that there are three fatal flaws in the country's recycled plastic industry chain:

1. Raw material collection faultThe lack of an effective deposit return system has resulted in 90% of plastic bottles not entering formal recycling channels.
2. Technological gapOnly three companies nationwide have the capability for chemical recycling, and the production capacity of pyrolysis oil is less than 5% of the demand.
3. Market vicious cycleThe price of recycled plastic is 40% higher than that of new materials, causing consumer goods companies to prefer paying fines rather than purchasing it.

"This is like fighting a modern war with medieval technology," said Markus Feld, an official from the European Environment Agency. According to the new Packaging Law, by 2030 all plastic packaging in the EU must contain 30% recycled materials, but Greek companies generally state that they "cannot complete the technological upgrade within 10 years."

Facing collective disorder among member states, the European Union is establishing a stricter regulatory system. The EU Waste Shipment Regulation, effective in 2025, stipulates:Starting in 2026, the export of waste plastics to non-OECD countries will be prohibited.Starting from 2029, exports will only be allowed to countries that have obtained environmental certification. This policy, known as the "Plastic Blockade Order," directly cuts off the grey path of "waste transfer" for countries like Greece.

Meanwhile, Brussels is promoting the establishment of a "recycled plastics certification system." According to the Single-Use Plastics Directive, starting from 2030, all plastic bottles must contain 30% recycled materials, and the caps must be attached to the bottle. These standards are akin to a "mission impossible" for Greece, as the current proportion of recycled plastics in packaging in the country is only 8.7%.

This scandal exposes not only the failure of governance in Greece but also the growing pains of the global transition in the plastic economy. According to data from the United Nations Environment Programme, 367 million tons of plastic waste are produced globally each year.The recycling rate is less than 10%. In a landfill on the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece, a large number of plastic bottles labeled "recyclable" are being mixed with regular garbage for burial.

"This is not just an issue for Greece alone," emphasized the EPPO prosecutor participating in the investigation. With the advancement of the EU's Plastic Strategy and the United States' National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution, the global plastic industry chain is facing restructuring. For Greece, the investigation involving 11.9 million euros may just be the beginning—the real test is how to use this wake-up call to awaken the dormant environmental protection system.