Key information
- 1.992 billion tonnes of waste were processed in the EU in 2022.
- 61.4 percent of waste was recovered through recycling, backfilling and incineration with energy recovery.
- The volume of waste recovered increased by 40.6 percent, while the amount of waste disposed of decreased significantly, by 25.1 percent.
Waste treatment in the EU saw significant development in 2022, with 1.992 billion tonnes processed. Of this quantity, 61.4 percent was recovered, while 38.6 percent was disposed of. Despite a modest overall increase in waste processed since 2004 (only 5 percent), the volume of waste recovered jumped 40.6 percent, from 870 million tonnes to 1.223 billion tonnes. This recovery includes recycling, backfilling of excavated areas (such as quarries or mines with the aim of restoring the landscape or stabilizing areas for future use) and incineration with energy recovery. Conversely, the amount of waste sent to landfills has decreased significantly, from 1.027 billion tonnes in 2004 to 769 million tonnes in 2022, a drop of 25.1 percent.
Breakdown by processing method
In terms of specific processing methods, recycling accounted for 40.8 percent of all waste processed, followed by landfilling with 14.2 percent and energy recovery with 6.4 percent. The remaining 38.6 percent was either landfilled (30.2 percent), incinerated without energy recovery (0.4 percent), or disposed of by other means (8.0 percent). .
The best and worst students in the class
The practices of treatment waste varies considerably between EU countries. Italy leads with the highest recycling rate (85.6 percent), closely followed by Belgium and Slovakia, which both reach 68.3 percent, making them the best students in the class.
In contrast, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland mainly rely on landfilling and other disposal methods, with respective rates of 93.8 percent, 93.0 percent and 81.0 percent. hundred.
