The recycling situation in the EU

Not many consider that some packaging solutions might not be suitable for certain countries due to inadequate recycling infrastructure. However, substantial differences exist between countries, making this an overlooked topic. Understanding a country's recycling rate provides a glimpse into its recycling capability, signifying how much of the total waste is effectively recycled. It's crucial not to mistake this for the collection rate, which merely measures waste collected by the waste management system, excluding disposal in nature.

For a market as vast as the European Union, one might expect standardized waste management systems. However, this isn't the reality. Despite overarching EU regulations like the Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive and the Waste Framework Directive (governing Extended Producer Responsibility), recycling rates significantly vary among EU member states. The complexities of waste management contribute to this disparity, encompassing economic, logistical, and political challenges. Establishing efficient collection and recycling systems is costly and demands robust logistics. The attractiveness of recycling certain materials hinges on cost balancing, ensuring that recycling processes match or are cheaper than acquiring virgin materials. Unfortunately, this isn't the case for many materials.

Additionally, there must be a demand for recycled materials in products. If there's no market for these materials in product manufacturing, investments in their recycling may seem futile.

Luckily enough, the average EU recycling rates of paper and cardboard (82.3%), metals (78%), and glass (76.3%) were high in 2020. Metal and glass can be recycled an infinite number of times without losing their quality, making them a very worthwhile investment for countries to recycle.

Aluminium, the most common material for metal packaging, is just one uniform material that is easily recognized as metal by consumers and therefore it often finds its way into the correct collection point. The same goes for glass, rarely do you mistake a glass bottle for anything else, so it is regularly disposed of in the appropriate bin and sorting stream. Even though the quality of paper and cardboard does decrease as the fibers go through each recycling process, the recycling rate is still high. Reasons for this are that the recycling process of paper and cardboard is relatively simple compared to other processes and the collection and recycling infrastructure has already been in place for a very long time.

But what about plastic? Plastic is of course the elephant in the room when it comes to the discussion of recycling. Its average recycling rate in the EU lies at only 41%. The reasons for this are numerous. One big difference to the other materials is that there is not one uniform material plastic but it is rather a group of materials needing different recycling processes. Summarized, some of the common causes are:

• Recycling has a cost, and demand needs to meet supply. In theory, EPR (extended producer responsibility) finances the recycling but in fact, different municipalities need to chip in in many member states and cover some of the cost
• Plastics come in many different types and need to be sorted into different plastic streams as they cannot be recycled together
• Plastics can be confusing for consumers and therefore might not end up in the right bin

Table showing recycling rates in different countries in the EU by packaging material

Considering these insights, let the actual recycling rates in your markets guide your material choices. Explore the table highlighting the top 5 countries excelling in recycling rates across various packaging materials:

To get more details on why plastics are treated the way they are, have a look around our Packaging School. Explore articles like 'The Truth about Plastic Recycling' and 'In Focus: Plastics' to expand your understanding.

Sources:

Recycling rate of packaging waste by type of packaging