Back More than 40% of EU plastic packaging waste recycled

13 January 2021

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In the EU, an estimated 41.5% of plastic packaging waste was recycled in 2018. In seven EU Member States, more than half of the plastic packaging waste generated was recycled.

In 2018, the highest recycling rate of plastic packaging waste was recorded in Lithuania (69.3%), ahead of Slovenia (60.4%, 2017 data), Bulgaria (59.2%), Czechia (57.0%), Cyprus (54.3%), Slovakia (51.4%) and Spain (50.7%).

Recycling rate of plastic packaging waste in the EU, 2018 data

Source dataset: env_waspacr

In contrast, less than one third of plastic packaging waste was recycled in Malta (19.2%, 2017 data), France (26.9%), Hungary (30.0%), Ireland (31.0%), Finland (31.1%), Denmark (31.5%), Austria (31.9%) and Luxembourg (32.3%).

Recycling rate of plastic packaging waste by EU country, 2018 data​​​​​​

Source dataset: env_waspacr

For more information, see the Statistics Explained article Packaging waste statistics.

Note: The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.


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