The European Union (EU) recycled 42.4% of its plastic packaging waste in 2024, up from 41.6% in 2023, according to data released by Eurostat.

Across the bloc, each person generated an average of 35.9kg of plastic packaging waste during the year, with 15.3 kg sent for recycling.

Per-person metrics grew by 0.6kg year-on-year.

During 2014–2024, annual plastic packaging waste generation expanded by 6.1kg per capita while the volume recycled rose by 3.4kg.

Recycling performance varied substantially by member state. Latvia recorded the highest proportion at 71%, followed by Belgium at 58.2%, Poland at 56.0%, and Czechia at 53.7%.

Conversely, the lowest shares were reported in Denmark at 22.5%, Finland at 26.9%, and France at 27.4%.

Total packaging waste across all material streams stood at 81.5 million tonnes in 2024, equating to 181kg per inhabitant.

This per capita total rose by 3.2kg compared with 2023 and stood 19.6kg higher than in 2014.

By material share, paper and cardboard formed the primary waste fraction at 40.8%, followed by plastic at 19.9%, glass at 18.1%, wood at 16.2%, metal at 4.8%, and other materials at 0.2%.

Earlier this month, the European Commission (EC) also initiated a public consultation to assess the role of bio-based plastics in EU packaging policy, accepting stakeholder submissions until 13 January 2027.

Covering the complete packaging value chain, the feedback will contribute to the Article 8 review of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the Strategic Framework on a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy.

Under Article 8, the EC is instructed to evaluate technological progress and the environmental performance of bio-based plastic packaging to determine whether further EU measures are required.