The European Union produced 79.7 million tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, equivalent to 177.8kg per person, according to recent Eurostat data.
The figure represents a decrease of 8.7kg per capita compared with 2022 but remains 21.2kg higher than in 2013.
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Paper and cardboard made up the largest share of packaging waste at 40.4%, followed by plastic (19.8%), glass (18.8%), wood (15.8%), metal (4.9%) and other materials (0.2%).
Each EU resident generated an average of 35.3kg of plastic packaging waste in 2023, with 14.8kg of this recycled.
Compared with the previous year, plastic packaging waste generation fell by 1kg per person, while the recycled amount increased by 0.1kg.
Between 2013 and 2023, plastic packaging waste rose by 6.4kg per capita, with recycling volumes increasing by 3.8kg.
The EU’s recycling rate for plastic packaging waste reached 42.1% in 2023, up from 38.2% in 2013.
Belgium led with the highest recycling rate at 59.5%, followed by Latvia at 59.2% and Slovakia at 54.1%.
The lowest rates were in Hungary (23%), France (25.7%) and Austria (26.9%).
The data underlines continuing efforts across the EU to improve recycling performance, despite packaging waste levels remaining above those recorded a decade earlier.
In July 2025, the European Commission opened a public consultation on draft rules for assessing, validating and documenting recycled content in single-use plastic beverage bottles, including chemically recycled materials.
The commission said the proposed rules are intended to support chemical recycling in the EU and to help businesses meet recycled-content targets set under the Single-Use Plastics Directive.
