Data released from the European Union contradicts widely held perceptions that packaging has led to a mountain of waste across Europe. Despite 40% growth in GDP in the nine year period from 1998 to 2006, the amount of packaging placed on the EU market only increased 11% while packaging going to landfills actually fell by 33%1. Furthermore, the target of 55% package recycling set by the European Union was surpassed or reached by 12 Member States well ahead of schedule: thus representing a decoupling between GDP growth and packaging consumption.

An analysis by EUROPEN (the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment) of official EU data released late last year by Eurostat shows that collaborative efforts taken by citizens, regional and local governments, and the business community in all EU member states have made substantial progress in reducing the amount of packaging waste that ends up in our landfills. The result of these efforts confirms that Europe has developed a sustainable model for packaging waste management that allows for economic growth to coincide with environmental protection.

“The latest EU data on packaging consumption clearly demonstrates that Europe has taken a proactive, innovative and collaborative approach to reducing packaging waste,” stated Julian Carroll, Managing Director of EUROPEN. “Europe’s success in this regard would not have been possible without the commitment of Europe’s citizens, who are amongst the world’s most active recyclers.”

With very few exceptions, the 27 Member States of the European Union have realised impressive results that have dramatically reduced landfill waste. Despite various timetables to achieve a 60% waste recovery rate, the EU-27 average is already at 69% with the EU-15 registering a remarkable 72% average.

The data also shows the average recycling rate across the entire European community is just above the 55% target, even though the deadline to reach this goal ranges from 2008 to 2015. Moreover, disposal of waste in landfills have fallen significantly, as mentioned above, with only Greece and Portugal seeing marginal increases in packaging waste disposal.

Even though many of the targets established by the EU legislation on recycling and package disposal have been met by several EU Member States, these targets still remain relevant for two principal reasons. First, more than half of the member states have more time to reach these targets ranging from 2011 to 2015. This mostly applies to new Member States that are still in the process of upgrading their infrastructure to reach these goals.

Second, the EU and industry are in agreement that optimisation needs to be reached in recycling and waste management before reviewing the targets that are currently in place.
While the 2006 data clearly illustrates that considerable progress has been made, there are concerns that the 50% fall in the market price of recyclable materials due to the economic downturn will begin to reverse the progress achieved so far.

“While the current economic situation poses some anxiety about future recycling levels, Europe has succeeded in developing packaging waste management systems that are economically and environmentally sustainable,” Carroll said. “EU countries have clearly integrated the management of packing waste into their waste management processes that combine recycling and waste recovery programmes.”