Plastic packaging waste in EU rose by 23% in ten years; Netherlands best for recycling

Residents of the European Union produced an average of 34.6 kilograms of plastic packaging waste in 2020. That was an increase of over 23 percent compared to ten years ago, according to figures from the European statistical office Eurostat.

The data concerns plastic garbage that was used as packaging and packaging material. A large portion is for single use only, such as the wrapping used on food items.

European Member States have also recycled more packaging material in the past decade. The total improved from an average of 9.8 kilograms per inhabitant in 2010 to about 13 kilograms a decade later. That left a remainder of an estimated 21.5 kilograms of waste per European resident in 2020.

The Netherlands is the EU country that recycled the most plastic packaging waste. Eurostat figures put that average at about 57 percent of packaging waste in 2019. The statistics office was not yet able to provide Dutch figures for 2020.

Lithuania, Spain and Slovenia also ranked high on the list. The residents of Malta, France and Denmark recycle less than 10 percent of their plastic packaging waste.