Spain occupies the number six position in the ranking of countries in the European Union (EU, 27 States) in which the most packaging and packaging waste is generated per capita (packaging, see official definition), according to the report published by Eurostat (19 October) with data from 2021. Ahead of Spain are (in order from highest to lowest) Ireland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and France.
As regards the recycling rate of this specific type of household waste (in accordance with the classification and regulations approved by the EU), Spain occupies eighth position, in this case, below Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Italy, Finland, Slovakia and Estonia.
The update of the Eurostat statistics, which is based on the data provided by each country, in accordance with current regulations on this matter, makes it clear that the generation of packaging waste continues to grow (a 26.7% increase in the last decade) and that plastics represent an increasingly larger part of this fraction of garbage.
Data collected by Eurostat indicates that in 2021, an average of 188.7 kg of packaging waste was generated in the European Union; That is, 6% more than the previous year and the most significant increase in the last decade. Spain presents this same trend and, although it is below the European average in generation of this category of garbage, each Spaniard produced 182.6 kg of packaging waste in 2021, 8.5% more than in 2020 and 27 % more than 10 years ago.
Data from the statistical office indicate that in 2021 a total of 11 States (of the 27) had reached or exceeded the goal set for 2025 of recycling 65% of packaging. In this case, Spain ranked in 2021 as the eighth best country by recycling rate, with 70.1% (the EU-27 average was 64.8%).
The statistics by materials indicate that the recycling rate of plastic packaging waste stood at 39.7% in 2021 (with respect to the total generated in this type of materials), a percentage slightly higher than in 2020 (37.6% ) but still lower than that declared in 2019 (41.1%), according to Eurostat in its official note, which recalls that in 2020 the new (stricter) guidelines on recycling information for this type of waste came into force. In plastic packaging, Spain occupies the 6th position with the highest recycling rate in 2021. Spain leads - along with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - the group of countries that has increased the recycling of plastic packaging the most in the last decade.
"From packages for online purchases to takeaway coffee cups, packaging is almost everywhere," Eurostat reminds us in a journalistic license that heads its most recent note on packaging waste statistics. Returning to the coldness of the figures that dominate the vast majority of Eurostat publications (European Statistical Office, a body dependent on the European Commission), it is indicated that "in 2021, the EU generated 188.7 kg of packaging waste per inhabitant, "10.8 kg more per person than in 2020, the largest increase in ten years, and almost 32 kg more than in 2011."
"In total, the EU generated 84 million tonnes of packaging waste, of which 40.3% was paper and cardboard. Plastic represented 19.0%, glass 18.5%, wood 17 .1% and metal 4.9%. In 2021, each person living in the EU generated an average of 35.9 kg of plastic packaging waste. Of this, 14.2 kg was recycled. Compared to 2020, both plastic packaging waste generation and recycling increased: generation increased by 1.4 kg per capita (4.0%) and recycling by 1.2 kg per capita (9.5%)", Eurostat relates.
Between 2011 and 2021, the per capita amount of plastic packaging waste generated increased by 26.7% (7.6 kg/per capita). The recycled amount of plastic packaging waste increased during the same period by 38.1% (3.9 kg/per capita).
Eurostat data on packaging waste can be consulted in greater detail on the page of this office dedicated to this type of materials. Eurostat also provides on this page information on definitions such as the recycling rate of packaging waste, whose figures and data collection methodology are standardized across all European Union countries.
