Cyprus recycled 51% of plastic packaging waste in 2019

Cyprus was among nine EU member states that recycled more than half the plastic packaging waste generated in the country, according to the latest Eurostat figures.

The EU’s statistical office said that in 2019, each person living in the EU generated 34.4 kg of plastic packaging waste, out of which 14.1 kg was recycled.

Between 2009 and 2019, the volume of plastic packaging waste generated per inhabitant increased by 24 per cent (+6.7 kg). The recycling volume of plastic packaging waste increased sharply over the same period, by 50 per cent (+4.7 kg). Despite this improvement, the amount of plastic packaging that wasn’t recycled increased by 2.0 kg per inhabitant since 2009 due to the greater increase in the absolute value of plastic packaging waste generated.

In 2019, an estimated 41 per cent of plastic packaging waste was recycled in the EU.

Nine EU Member States recycled more than half of the plastic packaging waste generated: Lithuania (70 per cent), Czechia (61 per cent), Bulgaria (59 per cent, 2018 data), the Netherlands (57 per cent), Sweden and Slovakia (both 53 per cent), Spain (52 per cent), Cyprus (51 per cent) and Slovenia (50 per cent).

In contrast, less than one-third of plastic packaging waste was recycled in Malta (11 per cent, 2018 data), France (27 per cent), Ireland (28 per cent), Austria (31 per cent), Poland (32 per cent) and Hungary (33 per cent).