Republished with full copyright permissions from The Boston News Tribune.

In 2022, the European Union (EU) achieved a circular material use rate of 11.5%, indicating that 11.5% of the material resources utilized within the EU were sourced from recycled waste materials. This significant milestone was recently revealed by Eurostat’s data on circular material use rate.

Compared to the previous year, the circularity rate experienced a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points. Over the span of twelve years from 2010 to 2022, the rate exhibited a growth of 0.8 percentage points, progressing from 10.7% to the current 11.5%. However, the highest shares were observed in 2018 and 2020, standing at 11.6%.

Among EU member states, the Netherlands emerged as the leader in terms of circularity rate, setting an impressive bar of 27.5%. Belgium closely followed with a rate of 22.2%, while France secured the third spot with 19.3%. On the other end of the spectrum, Finland, Romania, and Ireland recorded the lowest rates of 0.6%, 1.4%, and 1.8% respectively. These variations in circularity rates may be attributed not only to the different recycling practices across countries but also to structural factors within their national economies.

Analyzing the circularity rate by the main types of materials used, it was found that metal ores took the top spot with a circularity rate of 23.9%, marking a 0.6 percentage point rise compared to 2021. Non-metallic minerals followed closely with a rate of 13.7%, experiencing a marginal decrease of 0.1 percentage points. Biomass exhibited positive progress with a rate of 10.0%, growing by 0.6 percentage points. Meanwhile, fossil energy materials/carriers maintained a stable rate of 3.2%.

For those seeking a deeper understanding of the circular economy and its material flow dynamics, Eurostat’s Statistics Explained article provides detailed insights. Additionally, Eurostat offers a thematic section dedicated to material flows and resource productivity, along with a comprehensive database on material flows and resource productivity. These resources contribute to the monitoring framework for the circular economy established by the EU, as part of its commitment to the European Green Deal.