Belgium heads EU packaging recycling league

Europe – Belgium was the top packaging recycler among all 27 EU member states in 2011 with a rate of 80.2%, followed by the Netherlands and Germany on, respectively, 71.9% and 71.8%. At the bottom of the table were Poland and Malta with recycling rates of, in turn, 41.2% and 42.3%, according to latest figures published by EU statistics office Eurostat.

The average packaging recycling rate in the EU increased from 63.3% in 2010 to 63.6% in 2011, it confirms.

The UK dropped from 14th to 17th place in the EU-27 packaging recycling table with a below-average rate of 60.8% – only just above the 2010 figure of 60.7%. The UK was also in 17th place in terms of packaging recovery rates with 67.1% for 2011 as compared to 67.3% for 2010.

Germany was the recovery rate leader with 97.4% of its packaging waste recovered or incinerated, closely followed by Belgium on 96.9% and the Netherlands on 95.2%. The EU recovery average was 77.3%.

For more information, visit: www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat