Nine EU Member States have recycled more than half of the waste generated from plastic packaging: Lithuania (70%), the Czech Republic (61%), Bulgaria (59%), the Netherlands (57%), Sweden, and Slovakia (both 53). Spain) (52%), Cyprus (51%) and Slovenia (50%).
In contrast, less than a third of plastic packaging waste is recycled in Malta (11%), France (27%), Ireland (28%), Austria (31%), Poland (32%), and Hungary (33%).
In 2019, approximately 41% of plastic packaging waste was recycled in the EU. Each EU citizen has generated 34.4 kg of plastic packaging waste, of which 14.1 kg has been recycled, according to Eurostat.
Between 2009 and 2019, the volume of plastic packaging waste generated per capita increased by 24% (+ 6.7 kg). The volume of recycled waste from plastic packaging increased sharply during the same period – by 50% (+4.7 kg). Despite this improvement, the amount of non-recycled plastic packaging has increased by 2.0 kg per capita since 2009 due to the larger increase in the absolute value of plastic packaging waste generated.