As distorted global market conditions test the resilience of PET resin production in Europe, what is at stake is clear from our vantage point in Belgium: food security, the circular economy, and the industrial backbone of communities anchored around sites like ours.
Visit the Antwerp–Laakdal industrial cluster and you are looking at one of Europe’s most significant concentrations of advanced chemical manufacturing. At its centre sits JBF Global Europe’s PET resin facility — the newest, largest-scale plant of its kind on the continent.
From our site in Laakdal, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is not an abstract material. It is what keeps water, soft drinks, juices, medicines, and food products safe, shelf-stable, and transportable across the European market. It also delivers strong environmental performance, with a carbon footprint around 80% lower than glass or aluminium for comparable applications, supported by one of Europe’s most established recycling systems.
Yet despite this, our experience on the ground is that domestic PET production is not consistently treated as an industrial priority. For operators like us, that gap is becoming increasingly visible.
A critical material in a distorted market
From our position in Belgium, we see first-hand the effects of a market where around 40% of European demand is met by imports. For a material so embedded in food, beverage, and pharmaceutical supply chains, this represents a structural dependency.
At our site, substitution is not a realistic short-term option. Food safety requirements and regulatory standards severely constrain alternatives.
“At our site, we internalise the full cost of compliance. Where these obligations are absent elsewhere, market prices do not reflect comparable standards — and this cannot be offset by efficiency alone.”
At the same time, we are operating in a global market characterised by structural overcapacity — particularly outside Europe — and pricing dynamics that do not reflect the full cost of responsible, standards-compliant production.
From an operational standpoint, the differences are stark. Our facility faces significantly higher energy costs, carbon pricing under the ETS, and stringent environmental and product regulations. Producers in other regions often operate with lower input costs, fewer carbon constraints, and support from large integrated, and in some cases, government-subsidised systems. The result is a persistent cost asymmetry. At our site, we internalise the full cost of compliance. Where these obligations are absent elsewhere, market prices do not reflect comparable standards, and this cannot be offset by efficiency alone.
This is already visible in practice. Since mid-2022, we have seen sustained pressure on European utilisation rates and margins as import volumes continue to weigh on the market.
Recent developments reinforce this dynamic. Türkiye — a major exporter of PET into Europe — has introduced provisional safeguard measures to protect its domestic production. From our perspective, this creates an increasingly asymmetric situation: production is protected in some regions, while exports continue to flow into others.
More than a factory
Operations like ours are not isolated assets. They are part of deeply integrated industrial ecosystems.
JBF’s Belgian facility is co-located with INEOS Aromatics, securing feedstock, reducing supply chain risk, and lowering our carbon footprint. It is connected to the Port of Antwerp, enabling efficient access to customers across the region. And it supports approximately 2,500 direct and indirect jobs across logistics, maintenance, and downstream processing.
These are not interchangeable roles. They reflect accumulated expertise, established relationships, and local economic anchors built over time. The strength of the Antwerp–Laakdal cluster lies in this interdependence, and from our experience, when one part weakens, the resilience of the whole system is affected.
The circular economy depends on domestic capability
From our operations in Belgium, we see clearly how circular economy ambitions translate into industrial reality.
The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation sets demanding recycled content targets, including 30% by 2030. Meeting these targets requires not just collection systems, but domestic production capacity capable of processing and deploying recycled material at scale.
At our Laakdal facility, we have invested in integrated rPET capability, offering a single-pellet solution with up to 30% recycled content — exactly what brand owners need to meet compliance requirements. These capabilities are the result of sustained investment and technical development. Once lost, they are not easily rebuilt.
“Replacing locally produced PET with imports manufactured under less stringent environmental regimes risks increasing overall emissions, even where recycling performance improves.”
There is also a clear carbon dimension. Replacing locally produced PET with imports manufactured under less stringent environmental regimes risks increasing overall emissions, even where recycling performance improves. From our perspective, a credible low-carbon, circular packaging system depends on maintaining production capacity aligned with the same standards.
These pressures are unfolding in a broader geopolitical context. Recent escalation involving the US, Israel and Iran has disrupted key maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz — a critical corridor for global energy flows — increasing freight costs and supply chain uncertainty. For a material as essential as PET, this highlights the risks associated with long, intercontinental supply chains, and the importance of resilient, regionally anchored production.
From policy ambition to operating reality
Across our operations, we see strong alignment between Europe’s stated ambitions on competitiveness, circularity, and climate, and the direction of travel.
At the same time, the interaction between trade, energy, and carbon policy creates real and immediate challenges for assets like ours. Materials such as PET underpin food packaging, pharmaceuticals, and circular economy delivery. In our experience, maintaining domestic production capacity is directly linked to the ability to deliver on these broader objectives in practice.
“This is not an abstract debate. It is about how policy frameworks translate into day-to day operating conditions, and whether those conditions support long-term investment and resilience.”
This is not an abstract debate. It is about how policy frameworks translate into day-to-day operating conditions and whether those conditions support long-term investment and resilience.
The tools to address these challenges already exist. The question is how consistently they are applied — particularly for materials that may not attract the same visibility as other sectors, but remain essential to the functioning of the economy.
Conclusion
From our vantage point in Laakdal, the picture is clear. Significant investment has been made in building modern, efficient, and lower-carbon PET production capacity.
The extent to which that capacity continues to operate and invest will depend on how current policy frameworks are applied in practice.
For operators like us, this is not theoretical. It is about the conditions under which we continue to produce, employ, and invest in Belgium, and in the markets we serve.
Bill Ozturk is Group CEO of JBF Global Europe, operator of Europe’s most modern PET resin production facility, located in the Antwerp–Laakdal industrial cluster in Belgium.
JBF Global Europe: Our site at a glance
Location: Antwerp–Laakdal industrial cluster, Belgium
Asset profile: Newest and largest-scale PET production facility in Europe; commissioned 2013, expanded 2018–2019
Environmental performance: 37% lower CO₂ emissions than the EU peer average; PET carries an ~80% lower carbon footprint than glass or aluminium
Employment: ~2,500 direct and indirect jobs sustained across the Belgian value chain
Circular economy: Integrated single-pellet rPET solution with up to 30% post-consumer recycled content — directly supporting EU PPWR targets
Strategic position: Co-located with INEOS Aromatics for feedstock security; direct access to Port of Antwerp logistics infrastructure
Find out more at www.jbf-pet.com
