Cyprus maintains above-average recycling rate according to report

Cyprus is just above the EU average for recycling plastic packaging at 41.6 per cent compared to the bloc’s average of 39.7 per cent.

Notably, however, Cyprus reported in 2019 that it recycled 50.5 per cent of its plastic packaging, which then fell to 48.6 per cent in 2020.

The report for 2021 found Cyprus’ latest to be at 41.6 per cent.

The data, published by Eurostat, found that there was an overall decrease across the bloc as stricter reporting rules came into place.

The recycling rate shifted from 41.1 per cent in 2019 to 37.6 per cent in 2020. In 2021, the recycling rate was back on an increasing path, marking 39.7 per cent.

It was further reported that in 2021 the EU generated 188.7kg of packaging waste per inhabitant, 10.8kg more than in 2020. That marks the biggest increase in ten years, and almost 32kg more than in 2011.

In total, the EU generated 84 million tonnes of packaging waste, of which 40.3 per cent were paper and cardboard. Plastic represented 19.0 per cent, glass 18.5 per cent, wood 17.1 per cent and metal 4.9 per cent.

In Cyprus, the production of plastic packaging waste per inhabitant remained stable between 2019 and 2021 – however, the amount recycled per person decreased.

Eurostat found that in 2019 this stood at 20.63kg of waste produced per person, decreasing slightly to 20.28kg in 2020. It then rose to 20.85kg in 2021.

It added that recycling per person decreased from 10.41kg in 2019 to 9.86kg in 2020 and 8.67kg in 2021.