EU residents generated an average of 35.9kg of plastic packaging waste each in 2024.
Across all packaging materials, 81.5 million tonnes of packaging waste were produced in the EU last year — equal to 181.0kg per person, Eurostat reported on Thursday.
Packaging waste per head rose by 3.2kg compared with 2023 and by 19.6kg compared with 2014.
Paper and cardboard made up the largest share of packaging waste at 40.8%, followed by plastic at 19.9%, glass at 18.1%, wood at 16.2% and metal at 4.8%.
Of the 35.9kg of plastic packaging waste generated per person, 15.3kg was recycled.
Both the amount of plastic packaging waste produced and the amount recycled increased by 0.6kg per person from 2023.
Between 2014 and 2024, total plastic packaging waste generated rose by 6.1kg per person, while the amount recycled increased by 3.4kg per person.
EU recycling rate edges up
The EU recycled 42.4% of its plastic packaging waste in 2024, up from 41.6% in 2023, Eurostat said.
Latvia recorded the highest recycling rate for plastic packaging waste at 71.0%, followed by Belgium (58.2%), Poland (56.0%) and Czechia (53.7%).
The lowest rates were reported in Denmark (22.5%), Finland (26.9%) and France (27.4%).
