More plastics waste has been recycled than landfilled, according to a report commissioned by plastics producers’ association PlasticsEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticseurope.org), and developed in collaboration with the European Association of Plastics Recycling & Recovery Organisations (EPRO, Brussels; www.epro-plasticsrecycling.org). The new study, titled "Post-consumer Plastic Waste Management in the EU-28 + Norway and Switzerland in 2016", was done by Conversio Market & Strategy (Mainz / Germany; www.conversio-gmbh.com).

Data from the report show that in 2016, over 27m t of post-consumer plastics waste were collected through official waste schemes in Europe, which is a 5% increase since 2014. Of the 27m t, 41.6% were recovered through energy-from-waste, 31.1% recycled and 27.3% landfilled. A total of 72.7% of plastics waste was recovered in 2016, compared to 69.2% in 2014 – based on PlasticsEurope's data that includes energy recovery.

From 2006 to 2016, plastics waste recycling has risen by almost 80% in Europe (EU-28, plus Norway and Switzerland). During this period, volumes of post-consumer plastics waste grew less than 10%, while recycling went up by 79% and landfilling decreased by 43%. There is great variation among European countries, with some countries recovering nearly 100% of collected plastics waste, and others hardly reaching 30%. In addition, over 9m t of plastics waste is still being disposed of in landfills.

In the EU-28 and Norway and Switzerland, the figures show that recycling of plastic packaging waste has increased by 74% and landfilling has gone down by 53% over the ten-year period. This has led to an overall recycling rate of more than 40% for plastic packaging, compared to 39.5% in 2014.

PlasticsEurope executive director Karl-H. Foerster says while this is a positive development for plastics recycling and energy recovery, "more than a third of post-consumer plastic waste still ends up in landfill." He adds that it is essential to have proper waste management systems in Europe for a "circular and resource-efficient society."

Recently, the entire European plastics industry officially reaffirmed its commitment to "Zero plastics to landfills" by 2025 in all EU countries, while according to the latest EU proposal, member states only want to limit landfilling by 2035 to 10% – see Plasteurope.com of 22.12.2017.

The annual edition of PlasticsEurope's "Plastics: The Facts" will be published in the coming weeks. Among other things, the report will contain data, analysis and information on the treatment of European post-consumer plastics waste.