In 2020, each person in the EU generates an average of 34.6 kg of plastic packaging waste. Of this, 13.0 kg is recycled. This information comes from packaging waste data published by Eurostat.
Between 2010 and 2020, the amount of plastic packaging waste generated per inhabitant in the EU increases by 23% (+6.5 kg). In the same period, plastic packaging waste recycling increased by 32% (+3.2 kg). Despite this progress, the amount of plastic packaging not recycled per inhabitant has increased by 3.4 kg since 2010 due to a greater increase in the absolute amount of plastic packaging waste generated.
Changes in methods leading to reduced plastic recycling
In 2020, stricter recycling reporting rules take effect. These measures include uniform recycling calculation points and stricter accounting for the composite packaging material component. As a result, a temporary decrease of 3 percentage points is observed (from 41% in 2019 to approximately 38% in 2020).
The Netherlands, Lithuania, Slovakia, Spain, Bulgaria and Cyprus recycled more than half of their plastic packaging waste. In comparison, less than a third of plastic packaging waste is recycled in Malta, France, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, Poland and Austria.
