EU recycled 41% of plastic packaging waste in 2019. Nine EU countries recycled more than half of the plastic packaging waste generated: Lithuania (70%), Czechia (61%), Bulgaria (59%, 2018 data), the Netherlands (57%), Sweden and Slovakia (both 53%), Spain (52%), Cyprus (51%) and Slovenia (50%).

7 comments

  1. In 2019, each person living in the EU generated 34.4 kg of plastic packaging waste, out of which 14.1 kg was recycled.

    Between 2009 and 2019, the volume of plastic packaging waste generated per inhabitant increased by 24% (+6.7 kg). The recycling volume of plastic packaging waste increased sharply over the same period, by 50% (+4.7 kg).

    Despite this improvement, the amount of plastic packaging that wasn’t recycled increased by 2.0 kg per inhabitant since 2009 due to the greater increase in the absolute value of plastic packaging waste generated.

    In 2019, an estimated 41% of plastic packaging waste was recycled in the EU. Nine EU Member States recycled more than half of the plastic packaging waste generated: Lithuania (70%), Czechia (61%), Bulgaria (59%, 2018 data), the Netherlands (57%), Sweden and Slovakia (both 53%), Spain (52%), Cyprus (51%) and Slovenia (50%).

    In contrast, less than one-third of plastic packaging waste was recycled in Malta (11%, 2018 data), France (27%), Ireland (28%), Austria (31%), Poland (32%) and Hungary (33%).

  4. >However, since plastics are easily customised to the needs – functional or esthetic – of each manufacturer, the diversity of the raw material complicates the recycling process, making it costly and affecting the quality of the end product. As a consequence, the demand for recycled plastics is growing rapidly, though in 2018 it accounted for only 6% of plastics demand in Europe.

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20181212STO21610/plastic-waste-and-recycling-in-the-eu-facts-and-figures

    it’s mostly landfill or burned

  5. I just wanna point out – household waste accounts to just [8.5%](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/priorities/circular-economy/20180328STO00751/eu-waste-management-infographic-with-facts-and-figures) of all the waste. Hitting the end user is just not gonna cut it in anything, inlucing waste, in the future. The real issues are elsewhere. Like yea, I won’t use a plastic bag for my potatoes, but they still gonna arrive in a much bigger plastic bag into the store. Crates are used, yea, but not by everyone. And fking paper vs plastic straws are just a comedy by itself (meaning – did we [lose our ability to drink](https://tenor.com/view/drink-fail-boy-gif-12840575) from a cup/glass directly without a straw or something ?).

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