What EU country recycles the most plastic packaging waste?

The European Union recycles just over two fifths (42.1%) of all generated plastic packaging waste, according to new Eurostat data.

According to the data, which covers the year 2023, Belgium boasts the highest recycling rate for plastic packaging waste, at 59.5%, followed by Latvia (59.2%) and Slovakia (54.1%).

Other countries to report an above-average recycling rate include Czechia (52.4%), Germany (52.2%), Slovenia (51.5%) and the Netherlands (49.1%).

In contrast, several EU member states fall well short of the European average, with Hungary (23.0%), France (25.7%) and Austria (26.9%) boasting the lowest plastic packaging recycling rates. No data was available for Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania.

Packaging waste in the EU

In 2023, EU member states generated 79.7 million tonnes of packaging waste, equivalent to 177.8 kilograms per inhabitant, the data showed. This represents a decrease of 8.7 kilograms per person compared with 2022, although it is 21.2 kilograms higher than a decade earlier, in 2013.

Paper and cardboard account for more than two fifths (40.4%) of all packaging waste generated in the EU, followed by plastic (19.8%), glass (18.8%), wood (15.8%) and metal (4.9%). Other packaging materials accounted for 0.2% of the total.

In terms of plastic packaging specifically, each individual in the EU generated an average of 35.3 kilograms in 2023, of which 14.8 kilograms was recycled.

As Eurostat noted, the volume of plastic packaging waste generated declined by 1.0 kg per capita compared with the previous year, while the amount recycled rose by 0.1 kg. Over the ten-year period from 2013 to 2023, plastic packaging waste generated increased by 6.4 kg per capita, while the amount recycled increased by 3.8 kg. Read more here.

Plastic Packaging Recycling Rate by EU Member State, 2023 (%)