In the EU, an estimated 41.5% of plastic packaging waste was recycled in 2018.

In seven EU member states, more than half of the plastic packaging waste generated was recycled. In 2018, the highest recycling rate of plastic packaging waste was registered in Lithuania (69.3%), Slovenia (60.4%, 2017 data), Bulgaria (59.2%), Czechia (57.0%), Cyprus (54.3%), Slovakia (51.4%) and Spain (50.7%).

At the other end of the spectrum, less than one-third of plastic packaging waste was recycled in Malta (19.2%, 2017 data), France (26.9%), Hungary (30.0%), Ireland (31.0%), Finland (31.1%), Denmark (31.5%), Austria (31.9%), and Luxembourg (32.3%).