Packaging waste statistics
From Statistics Explained
- Data from August 2011, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
The environmental impacts caused by the generation and treatment of waste are raising serious concerns. As waste generation also represents an inefficient use of valuable resources, prevention and better management of waste is one of the top priorities of the EU's sustainable development strategy. Although the magnitude of the different waste streams varies across European countries, it is possible to identify waste streams that require specific consideration - such as packaging waste. This article examines the recent statistics on packaging waste in the European Union (EU). In particular it summarises the developments during the last decade since official reporting on packaging waste was implemented.
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Contents |
Main statistical findings
On average every citizen in the 27 Member States EU-27 generated 164 kg of packaging waste in 2008. This quantity varied between 40 kg and 233 kg per capita across European countries. Figure 1 shows that paper and cardboard, glass, plastics, wood, and metals are, in that order, the most common types of packaging waste in European countries.
Time series of packaging waste generation and treatment
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The following analysis will focus on the EU-15 as data on packaging waste is now available for a decade (1998-2008). Data for the first reporting year (1997) is not included because data for the entry year are not sufficiently robust for many packaging materials. As data for wood packaging is only available for most EU-15 countries from 2003 onwards, wood is not included in this analysis.
Figure 2 shows a summary of the development of packaging waste generated for the years from 1998 to 2008. The total quantity rose from 55 million tonnes in 1998 to 61 million tonnes in 2008. This means a total increase of 9.3 %.
Over the decade paper and board are the main material in packaging waste generated, contributing more than 25 million tonnes in 1998 and over 28 million tonnes in 2008 to the total packaging waste generated. Amounting to a total of 15.1 million tonnes in 1998, glass is the second most important packaging material; however, glass generated decreased to 14.7 million tonnes in 2008. Plastics packaging material increased from 9.9 million tonnes in 1998 to 13.1 million tonnes in 2008. Metals show a slight decrease from 4.5 to 4.4 million tonnes. The reporting of other materials is marginal, totalling less than 0.2 million tonnes per year.
It can be concluded that for some packaging material such as glass and metals there is a small decline while for paper and board and plastics there is a significant increase. This incline overcompensates the decrease of the other materials and results in an overall growth of packaging waste generated.
2008 was the first year on record showing a decrease of the total quantity of packaging material. This decline is mostly due to paper and board and plastics packaging whereas metals and glass did not experience a significant reduction from 2007 to 2008. This decline of packaging material might be due to the economic slump in 2008, as the GDP in EU-15 turns negative in the second quarter of 2008.
The development of the share of packaging materials is shown in Figure 3. It presents the share of the major packaging materials. Plastics experienced an increase in share from 17.9 % to 21.6 %. The share of paper and board went up from 45.7 % in 1998 to 46.7 % in 2008. Metals declined from 8.2 % in 1998 to 7.2 % in 2008 and glass has been significantly reduced from 27.5 % in 1998 to 24.2 % in 2008. In 2008 the overall quantity of packaging materials decreased. The share of metals and glass increased, the share of paper and board decreased and the share of plastics remained constant.
Another standard criterion for assessing the growth of waste is the correlation between the quantity and the population. Figure 4 depicts the development of the per-capita quantity of packaging material.
In the EU-15, the per-capita data for metals and glass packaging waste suggests some fluctuation between 1998 and 2000 followed by a slight but steady decline. Overall, between 2000 and 2008 a reduction of 10 % for metals and 6 % for glass can be observed. In contrast to metal and glass, the paper and board data and especially the plastics data show a strong per-capita increase. For paper and board the data show a stepwise increase in the years 1999, 2002, 2006 and 2007; in 2008 a significant decline can be observed.
The data for plastics display a quite steady growth over the years. Extrapolation of the trend before 2007 would suggest that plastics would overtake glass as the second important packaging material within a few years. However, as for paper and board, the plastics packaging waste data shows a decline in 2008.
Figure 5 shows the evolution of the packaging waste volume generated, recovered and recycled for glass, paper and board, plastics and metals.
The recycling sector plays a fundamental role in waste management. Recycling is crucial for both waste reduction and the reduction of consumption of natural resources. Increased recycling would also help Europe to be less dependent on raw material imports. Thus, it is not surprising that the recycling sector is growing in economic importance in the European Union and also makes a significant contribution to employment.
Figure 5 highlights that the amount of packaging waste recycled and recovered rose steadily from 1998 to 2008. Since many Member States had already implemented recycling and recovery schemes before 1998, the EU-15 data already show a significant volume of recycling and recovery from the beginning of the decade onwards. In 2008, 60.6 million tonnes of waste was generated in the EU-15 of which 46.8 million tonnes were recovered, including 40.4 million tonnes of recycled materials.
Figure 6 shows the corresponding evolution of the recycling and recovery rates for the timeframe 1998 - 2008. The amount of recycled and recovered packaging waste has steadily increased in the EU. In the EU-15 the recycling rate of packaging waste went up from 49 % to 67 % between 1998 and 2008. Until 2002 the recycling rate and the recovery rate developed in parallel. In the subsequent years the gap between the two widened, which might be due to the fact that more incineration facilities were built in this period. If energy and other forms of recovery are also taken into account, the rate of recovery including incineration at waste incineration plants with energy recovery rose from 56 % to 77 %.
Recycling and recovery targets
Article 6 of the Packaging Waste Directive sets out the first stage and second stage recovery and recycling targets.
The first stage sets a 50-65 % target on recovery (Art. 6(1)(a)), a 25 % target on recycling of all materials and a 15 % target for each material (Art. 6(1)(c)).
These targets are calculated by weight; by dividing the amount of packaging waste recycled by the total amount of packaging waste generated. The targets had to be met by different dates from June 2001 to the end of 2007 for all Member States except Malta, Bulgaria and Romania (Table 1). In the second stage, for each of the five packaging waste materials a minimum recycling rate by weight is required according to Article 6(1)(e) of the Packaging Waste Directive. Additionally a recycling target for the totality of the weight of materials is laid down in Article 6(1)(d). For recovery the directive seeks a minimum recovery rate of 60 % (Art. 6(1)(b)). Table 1 also shows the deadlines for the second stage targets according to the directive.
Glass
Generation of glass packaging waste differs between the countries significantly. In the EU-15 the glass packaging waste generated was 37 kg per capita in 2008 whereas in the 12 Member States which joined the EU after 2004 it amounted to only 19 kg per capita. The gap between the countries is rather wide. Finland has the smallest amount within the EU-15 with 11 kg per capita. As Figure 7 shows, the glass packaging generated in the case of Romania amounts to only 9 kg per capita for 2008 while Luxembourg and France have the highest level of glass packaging generated with 55 kg per capita and 49 kg per capita respectively.
There is a very wide range of quantity of packaging glass waste generated between the various Member States. The development over time is also very different. Some countries such as Belgium, the United Kindom, Slovenia or Poland experience an increase whereas other countries such as Denmark, France or Bulgaria see a decline. The data suggest that the development is independent from the actual level of total waste generation.
Recycling of packaging glass is the main recovery operation for this waste material. The other forms of recovery are minor and are used in a few countries only and are therefore not covered here. The recycling rate is shown in Figure 8.
The first stage target has been achieved by all Member States except Malta which did not provide data in time. The second stage targets have been achieved by all countries which had agreed to fulfill the target by the end of 2008. Some countries – namely Ireland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia – are well above the 60 % recycling rate.
Paper and board
Paper and board recycling and recovery have been in operation since the 1980s. Therefore the recycling and recovery rates for paper and board packaging were already high at the beginning of the 1998 – 2008 decade. The main recovery operations are material recycling and incineration with energy recovery. Other forms of recycling and recovery played only a very minor role.
The development of the recycling and recovery operations is displayed in Figure 9. Please note that from 2002 / 2003 the reporting format changed, which is indicated as 'break in time series'.
Figure 9 shows clearly that some of the amount dedicated to recycling before 2002 shifted to energy recovery or incineration after 2003. Up to 2008 the volume of paper and board packaging undergoing recycling grew steadily. The amount of energy recovery or incineration at waste incineration plants with energy recovery reached a peak in 2003 and has declined since then with a sharp drop in 2008.
At first the amount of paper and board packaging which is not recovered (disposed), decreased from 31 % in 1998 to 10 % in 2008. In contrast the share of recycling has grown over the same period from 61 % to 82 %. The other recovery operations have contributed 8 % in 1998 and 2008 while they reported a peak of 13 % after 2003.
The recycling rate for paper and board is shown in Figure 10. All countries have exceeded the second stage recycling target of 60 % except Slovakia. However, Slovakia reported recycling rates over 60 % for 2006 and 2007. Malta has not reported any data for 2008.
Metals
The metal packaging waste consists of steel and aluminium. The breakdown of the data to steel and aluminium is voluntary and therefore only a few countries reported this. Data for Germany, Italy and the UK from 1999 onwards and for France, Sweden and Greece from 2003 onwards indicate that aluminium had a share of 10 % to 13 % of the total metal packaging waste. Over the 1999-2008 decade a small increase can be observed.
The second stage recycling target for metal packaging is 50 % by weight, shown in Figure 11. It should be noted that Bulgaria and Romania had also agreed to fulfill the targets by the end of 2008. However, all Member States which should have met the target by the end of 2008 have recycling rates exceeding 50 %. Moreover, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia and Latvia have reported rates above the target.
Plastics
Plastics packaging material is the packaging material with the highest growth rate in the last decade. In comparison to other packaging materials the recycling of plastics is more difficult and costly. Figure 12 illustrates the development of recycling and recovery activities for the EU-15 for the decade from 1998 to 2008.
The recycling activity has grown more than twofold in the EU-15, showing an increase from 1.8 million tonnes to 4 million tonnes per year in the 1998-2008 decade, whereas the recycling rate has only increased by 50 %. This is mainly due to the high growth of plastics packaging material. For recovery operations without recycling (until 2002) or energy recovery and incineration (from 2003 onwards) the change in the reporting format had resulted in a rapid increase from 2002 to 2003. The reason for this sharp incline might be a more conservative assignment in the years before 2003. Over the decade the recovery without recycling operations increased from 1.5 million tonnes to nearly 4 million tonnes per year, representing a rise in share from 15 % in 1998 to 30 % in 2008. The increase in recovery without recycling has therefore been higher than for recycling alone.
As a result, the amount of plastics packaging waste going to disposal has been reduced from 6.6 million tonnes or 67 % in 1998 to 5.2 million tonnes per year or 39 % in 2008. On the other hand the disposal of plastics packaging waste has only been reduced by 21 %.
Figure 13 shows the contribution of the various recycling and recovery operations in 2008. The breakdown of recovery operations in EU-15 countries shows significant variations. High recovery rates are mostly achieved by incineration with energy recovery; they are independent of recycling rates. As some Member States have nationwide coverage with municipal waste incineration plants with energy recovery, they automatically achieve an almost 100 % recovery rate, as is the case with Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria.
For the recycling rates only material recycling (meaning recycled back to plastics) are counted. In Figure 14 the first stage targets of 15 % and the second stage targets of 22.5 % are shown. All countries had to meet the first stage recycling targets by different dates up to the end of 2007, except Malta and Bulgaria (end of 2009) and Romania (end of 2011).
The recycling rates shown in Figure 14 indicate that Greece (12 %) and Cyprus (14.8 %) have not achieved the first stage targets. Bulgaria (15.6 %) and Romania (15.5 %) both have achieved their target before the corresponding deadline. Malta did not supply data in-time. All Member States which were due to fulfil the second stage targets of 22.5 % by the end of 2008 have exceeded this target. Some countries with a later deadline have already achieved the targets: Ireland (29 %), the Czech Republic (50 %), Hungary (25 %), Lithuania (33 %), the Slovak Republic (44 %), Slovenia (56 %) and Poland (24 %).
Wood
Wood packaging is mostly used for transport packaging. As the reporting was voluntary before 2003, a comprehensive time line for EU-15 is available only from 2003 onwards. The data on wood packaging exhibit wide variations and are assessed as insufficiently robust. Commission Decision 2005/270/EC decreed that 'the data for wood shall not be used for the purpose of evaluating the target of a minimum of 15 % by weight …'. Figure 15 is therefore only indicative of the recycling rates achieved.
Overall recycling rates
The overall recycling rates for packaging waste are compiled for all packaging materials including glass, paper and board, metals, plastics, others and wood. The first stage target was 25 % and the second stage target was 55 %.
As shown in figure 16, all countries have achieved the first stage targets except Malta which has not supplied data in-time.
All countries subject to meeting the second stage target of 55 % recycling rate by the end of 2008 have achieved the target. Other countries already have recycling rates above the target: Ireland, Portugal and the Czech Republic.
Overall recovery rates
Figure 17 shows the recovery rate for all packaging materials. The first stage recovery target was 50 % and the second stage target was 60 %.
All countries except Malta (2009), Bulgaria and Romania (2011) should have met the first stage targets by different dates up to the end of 2007. All countries subject to the first stage targets could – with the exception of Greece (44 %), Cyprus (39 %) and Estonia (45 %) – exceed the recovery target of 50 %.
Bulgaria (51 %) met the target before the set deadline.
All EU-15 countries (except Greece) met the second stage target by 2008. Ireland (62 %), Portugal (66 %) and the Czech Republic (76 %) exceeded the second stage target.
Conclusions
- The data on packaging waste are hosted by Eurostat and are available in the dissemination.
- As shown in this paper, the database allows a wide range of analysis.
- The data reveal that the amount of packaging waste generated has significantly increased over the last decade.
- Glass and metal packaging waste generated show a small decrease over the decade.
- Paper and board and plastics packaging put on the market significantly increased in the last 10 years.
- 2008 was the first year since 1997 in which the total amount of packaging generated decreased. The fall in packaging consumption was mainly due to paper and board and plastics.
- Recycling for major packaging material (glass, paper and board, plastics, metals) grew from 50 % in 1998 to about 66 % in 2008 for the EU-15. In the same time recovery rose from 56 % to 77 %.
- Paper and board is the most important packaging material with a consumption of 72 kg per capita in 2008 in the EU-15. Recycling advanced from 61 % in 1998 to 82 % in 2008. Other recovery operations remained constant at about 8 % and disposal decrease from 31 % in 1998 to 10 % in 2008.
- Glass is the second most important packaging material with 37 kg per capita. Glass recycling rose from 52 % in 1998 to about 69 % in the EU-15.
- In 2008 the EU-15 has a plastics packaging material consumption of 33 kg per capita. Recycling increased from 18 % to 31 % between 1998 and 2008, energy recovery or incineration with energy recovery rose from 15 % to 30 % and disposal fell from 67 % to 39 %.
- Metals packaging put on the market amounts to 11 kg per capita. In 1998 43 % was recycled in the EU-15. In 2008 the recycling rate was 70 %.
The nature and dimension of waste related impacts on the environment depend upon the amount and composition of waste streams as well as on the method for treating them. Member States deliver quantitative data, to be reported under EU waste legislation, to a single data entry point, the Waste Data Centre operated by Eurostat.
Data for specific waste streams as well as official waste statistics are becoming available in a common reporting, processing and dissemination environment to allow for cross validations and assessments.
This one-stop-shop approach allows policy-makers, stakeholders, users from other European bodies and the interested public to find the data needed to assess the effectiveness of the European Union’s waste policy.
Data sources and availability
The packaging waste data is reported by the Member States as laid down in Commission Decision 2005/270/EC. The reported data is usually available in the Eurostat database on packaging waste approximately 18 months after the end of the reference year.
Context
Packaging legislation is driven by European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/ECof 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste, as amended by Directive 2004/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Packaging Waste Directive) and is concerned with minimising the creation of packaging waste material. It promotes re-use, recycling and energy recovery of packaging.
However, as a first legal basis, Council Directive 85/339/EEC of June 1985 required the establishment of national programmes for reduction of the volume of beverage containers disposed as waste in order to raise consumer awareness on the advantage of using refillable containers. These programmes began on 1 January 1987 and have been updated every four years since then. Great emphasis was put on the recycling of such containers.
The directive was repealed by the introduction of the Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC in 1994. The latter directive aims at harmonising national measures concerning the management of packaging and packaging waste in order, on the one hand, to prevent any impact thereof on the environment of all Member States and third countries, or to reduce such an impact, thus providing a high level of environmental protection, and, on the other hand, to ensure the functioning of the internal market. Obstacles to trade and distortion and restriction of competition within the Community shall be avoided. To this end, this directive lays down measures aimed, as a first priority, at preventing the production of packaging waste and, as additional fundamental principles, at reusing packaging, at recycling and other forms of recovering packaging waste and hence at reducing the final disposal of such waste. It also limits the level of heavy metals in packaging.
The Packaging Waste Directive sets out the following targets (by no later than 31 December 2008 for the old EU-15 except Greece, Ireland and Portugal): a minimum of 60 % recovery rate (including waste incineration); between 55 and 80 % by weight of packaging waste to be recycled; with minimum rates of 60 % by weight for glass, paper and cardboard; 50 % by weight for metals; 22.5 % by weight for plastics; and 15 % by weight for wood (The deadlines for the second stage targets and additional interim targets for Bulgaria and Romania were set in the accession protocol).
Commission Decision 2005/270/EC of March 2005 has established a common format on which reporting of Member States is based.
Historical flashback and example
In France, the municipal waste generated increased during the period from 1960 – 1990 from almost 220 kg per capita to approx. 360 kg per capita. However, during the same period packaging waste has risen from approx. 36 kg per capita to almost 120 kg per capita. As the municipal waste has increased by 33 %, packaging waste grew by 233 %.
Taking into account that the standard waste treatment in the 1980s was landfill, the waste volume might serve as a better benchmark since general estimates show that packaging waste with a weight share of 30 % may constitute up to 50 % of the waste volume. This underlines that packaging waste has an important impact on landfill capacity.
In recent decades many Member States have been striving to raise the environmental standards for waste disposal facilities for both incineration and landfill. Many smaller landfill facilities were closed and the construction of new ones was rarely approved. For Germany at the end of the 1980s, the landfill reserve capacities in some regions were estimated to last for a maximum of 2 to 5 years.
Definitions
Packaging is defined as any material which is used to contain, protect, handle, deliver and present goods. Packaging waste can arise from a wide range of sources including supermarkets, retail outlets, manufacturing industries, households, hotels, hospitals, restaurants and transport companies. Items like glass bottles, plastic containers, aluminium cans, food wrappers, timber pallets and drums are all classified as packaging.
The classification of packaging waste and ordinary waste is defined according to the three criteria in Article 3 of the Packaging Waste Directive and highlighted in Annex I.
In contrast to other waste statistics, the term 'packaging waste generated' means not the amount of 'packaging collected', but rather all 'packaging placed on the market'.
The main packaging materials are glass, paper and board, plastics, metals (aluminium and steel) and wood.
Composite materials are made of paper, plastic and metal which could not be separated by hand. Composites are reported under their predominant material by weight. Other packaging materials are counted as 'others'.
Recycling is divided in two terms. Material recycling is the reprocessing to the original material. Other forms of recycling include the reprocessing for other purposes including organic recycling.
Recovery includes recycling, energy recovery (e.g. as fuel in cement kilns or blast furnaces), other forms of recovery and waste incineration with energy recovery. Energy recovery means energy generation from waste at special incineration plants. Incineration with energy recovery and the other forms of recovery are defined by Annex IIb in the Waste Framework Directive 75/442/EEC (amended).
The weight of recovered or recycled packaging waste is determined as the input to an effective process or, for practical reasons, as the output of a sorting plant which is sent to an effective recovery or recycling process. The weight should exclude non-packaging materials as far as practical.
Reusable packaging is only counted once in their lifetime and not after every refilling and purchase trip.
The recycling or recovery rates are the total quantity of recycled or recovered materials divided by the total quantity of generated packaging material.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- European Environment Agency (EEA): Generation and recycling of packaging waste
- EEA: State of the environment report 5/2010 (SOER 2010)
- EEA: Effectiveness of packaging waste management systems in selected countries - Pilot study
- Eurostat: Generation and treatment of municipal waste - Statistics in focus 31/2011
- Eurostat: Environmental statistics and accounts in Europe - Statistical book 2010
Main tables
- Environment statistics, see:
- Recovery rates for packaging waste (ten00062)
- Recycling rates for packaging waste (ten00063)
Database
- Environment statistics, see:
- Waste statistics (env_was)
- Waste streams (env_wasst)
- Packaging waste (env_waspac)
- Waste streams (env_wasst)
Dedicated section
Methodology / Metadata
- Waste Statistics (ESMS metadata file - env_waspac_esms)
Source data for tables, figures and maps on this page (MS Excel)
Packaging waste August 2011 - tables and figures 
Other information
- Commission Decision 2005/270/EC of 22 March 2005 establishing the formats relating to the database system pursuant to Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste
- Directive 2004/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 on packaging and packaging waste
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