Recycling and resale, EU circularity rate increases in 2023

Brussels – Circular economy, forward slowly. The share of materials used to produce new objects and products from recycled goods is increasing in the EU. In data released today (Nov. 13), Eurostat notes that in 2023, 11.8 per cent of what was used in the European Union came from recycled materials. This is the indicator known as “circular material use rate” or “circularity rate”, and measures the contribution of recycled materials in the overall use of materials. Compared to 2022, the circularity rate has increased by 0.3 per cent, making it the highest rate recorded so far.

Italy stands out in this virtuous path. In 2023, the top three EU member countries in terms of circularity rate were the Netherlands (30.6 per cent), Italy (20.8 per cent) and Malta (19.8 per cent). The second-best performance once again confirms Italy‘s increasingly sustainable and environmentally-conscious nature, leader in waste recovery and policies to bring them back to life.

Looking more specifically, the European Statistical Office focuses on the nature of materials recovered and put back into circulation. It shows that in the EU, the rate of circularity was highest for metallic minerals (24.7 per cent, +2.2 compared to 2022), followed by nonmetallic minerals (13.6 per cent, +0.3), biomass (10.1 per cent, +0.7), and fossil energy materials/vectors (3.4 per cent, +0.6).