In 2023, 11.8% of materials used in the EU came from recycled materials. This indicator is known as the “circular material use rate” or “circularity rate” and measures the contribution of recycled materials to the overall material use.

Compared to 2022, the circularity rate increased by 0.3 percentage points (pp), becoming the highest share recorded so far. This information comes from data on the rate of use of circular materials published by Eurostat. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on the circular economy.

In 2023, the circularity rate was highest in the Netherlands (30.6%), followed by Italy (20.8%) and Malta (19.8%). The lowest rate was recorded in Romania (1.3%), Ireland (2.3%) and Finland (2.4%). When evaluating the types of materials, the circularity rate at EU level was the highest for metallic ores with 24.7% (+2.2 pp compared to 2022), followed by non-metallic minerals with 13.6% (+0.3 pp), biomass 10.1 percent. cent (+0.7 pp) and fossil energy materials/carriers by 3.4 percent (+0.6 pp). The 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan aims to double the EU’s circular materials usage rate by 2030 to 23.2%.

This article marks the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held November 11-22, 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Source: Eurostat