Cyprus plastic packaging recycling rate among EU’s lowest at 27.8 per cent

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus recorded a 27.8 per cent recycling rate for plastic packaging in 2024, ranking fourth lowest in the EU, according to figures Eurostat released on Thursday. Plastic packaging waste amounted to 23.31kg per resident, substantially less than the EU-wide average of 35.9kg.

Cyprus trails EU recycling average

Eurostat put the EU’s average plastic packaging recycling rate at 42.4 per cent, up 0.6 percentage points from 2023.

Only three countries reported rates below Cyprus: France, with 27.4 per cent; Finland, with 26.9 per cent; and Denmark, with 22.5 per cent.

At the other end of the ranking, Latvia led with 71 per cent. Belgium recorded 58 per cent, Poland 56 per cent and the Czech Republic 53.7 per cent, according to the figures.

Packaging waste rises over a decade

The Eurostat data showed that EU plastic packaging waste per resident rose by 6.1kg between 2014 and 2024. Over that period, the quantity recycled per resident increased by 3.4kg.

For all packaging materials combined, the EU generated approximately 81.5 million tonnes of waste in 2024. This represented 181kg per resident, or 19.6kg more than in 2014.

Paper and cardboard made up the biggest proportion of packaging waste, accounting for 40.8 per cent of the total. Plastic represented 19.6 per cent and glass 18.1 per cent. Eurostat’s figures also showed that wood and metal contributed significant proportions of the bloc’s packaging waste.