Circularity in the EU27 — explained in 3 acts

Automatically updates when Eurostat publishes a new year (env_wasmun).

1) Introduction — why this matters

Each ton of municipal waste has three main destinations: Recycling (RCY), Biowaste (BIO), and the “end of the line”: Landfill (LND) + Incineration (INC).

European targets 2035: Recycle 65% and limit landfill to ≤10%. Anything not RCY/BIO moves us away from these goals.

RCY Recycling BIO Biowaste INC Incineration LND Landfill Other

Source: Eurostat (env_wasmun – municipal waste management operations). Percentages = share of each operation in the total of the respective year and country.

2) Development — the story in data

2A) Current snapshot of the EU27

Base year chosen automatically (with minimum country coverage).

Base year—same across all charts
EU27 Average — Recycling—average share (RCY)
EU27 Median — Recycling—central value
Top-3 vs Bottom-3—RCY averages (best | last)

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2B) The “typical” European

The composition of the median country shows how the flow is split: RCY/BIO vs LND/INC.

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2C) End of line (landfill+incineration)

The smaller the bar, the more circular the system. The purple line shows the ≤10% landfill target (2035).

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2D) Country trajectories

Lines show % recycling over time. Top-5 highlighted; European target in purple.

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3) Conclusion — diagnosis and next steps

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Quick (0–90 days)

  • Scale up biowaste with weekly measured collection.
  • Multimaterial routes + hyperlocal campaigns.
  • Contamination audits with immediate feedback.

Structural (12–24 months)

  • Contracts with goals in pp/year of LND/INC diversion.
  • PAYT (Pay-As-You-Throw) with social safeguards.
  • Circular public procurement to drive demand.

Citations and methodology (auditable)

  • Source: Eurostat — Municipal waste by waste management operations (env_wasmun).
  • Extraction date: 2025-09-20. Processing/visualization: pH7x Systems® Brand.
  • License and reuse: Content reused under Creative Commons BY 4.0, in accordance with Eurostat reuse notice. Logos and brands excluded.
  • Method: Percentages per country and year calculated as operation value / sum of operations in the same year. Grouping of operations into RCY (recycling), BIO (biowaste), INC (incineration) and LND (landfill); “Other” = remainder.
  • EU targets 2035 (context): Municipal waste recycling 65% (Directive (EU) 2018/851); Landfilling ≤10% (Directive (EU) 2018/850). Purple lines in charts represent these targets.
  • Disclaimer: Eurostat/European Commission are not responsible for interpretations. Series may be revised.

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