Giving a new life to plastic trash gets Carlos Bento out of bed every morning. But the coronavirus pandemic has seen revenues drop up to 40 percent at Micronipol, the large recycling facility he runs in central Portugal, and it faces an uncertain future.

Micronipol produces recycled polyethylene, the base for plastic bags and bottles. The product is piling up at its warehouses as clients, facing their own economic struggles, shelve their recycling goals. They are opting for cheaper, nonrecycled plastics.

As lockdowns were put in place worldwide, a drop in demand for oil pushed prices to historic lows — making virgin plastics, already becoming cheaper than the recycled equivalent, even more affordable.