Recycling rates in the Europe
The recycling rate of municipal waste in the EU has increased steadily over the past two decades, rising from just 27.3 percent in 2000. Recycling rates vary widely depending on the waste material. For example, the overall recycling rate of packaging in the EU was 64.4 percent in 2019, but rates differ by type. Paper and paperboard was the most recycled packaging type by far, at a rate of 82 percent. This is followed by metallic packaging, at 77 percent. In comparison, the recycling rate of plastic packaging is just 41 percent.Much like waste materials, recycling rates vary by country. As of 2020, Germany had the highest recycling rate in the EU, at 67 percent. At that time, seven EU Member States had a recycling rate of more than 50 percent. Although recycling rates in most EU Member States have increased considerably over the past decade, many still fall short of the 50 percent mark. Nevertheless, Europe currently has some of the best recycling rates worldwide.
EU recycling targets and the circular economy
Under the European Commission's Waste Framework Directive, a series of waste reduction targets have been set for the coming decade, with EU Member States legally bound to recycle at least 55 percent of municipal waste by 2025 - rising to 65 percent by 2035. To continue improving recycling, many European countries are set to implement Deposit Refund Schemes (DRS) in the coming years. Currently, DRS systems are only active in 10 European countries, but those that do have them have noticeably higher polyethylene terephthalate (PET) collection rates than those without.By 2030, the amount of residual waste produced in the EU needs to be cut by roughly half to some 56.5 million metric tons. However, without a reduction in waste generation, it is unlikely this target will be achieved, even if the EU reaches a recycling rate of 60 percent. This shows that while certainly beneficial, recycling alone is not enough to tackle the sheer amount of waste produced in Europe. Therefore, the EU has set the goal of achieving a circular economy by 2050. The circular material use rate in the EU has been rising steadily over the past decade, and in 2020 reached 12.8 percent, meaning almost 13 percent of material resources used in the EU came from recycled materials that year.
