The EU’s statistics office, Eurostat, says Belgians are recycling more than ever before
Focus on Belgium reports Eurostat figures on the subject of waste handling in the European Union between 2013 and 2023.
It says that Belgium has “earned a feather in its cap right across the board”.
Packaging waste mainly consists of paper and cardboard (40.4%), plastic (19.8%), glass (18.8%), wood (15.8%), metal (4.9%) and miscellaneous other materials (0.2%). says Focus on Belgium.
In 2023, it states that the average EU citizen produced just under 12% more waste than in 2013.
“So the situation therefore isn’t exactly ideal. On the other hand, a turnaround seems to have begun in 2022, but much work still needs to be done to bring the figures down again to below the levels recorded in 2013. We have also observed the same trend in the case of plastic. There too, the quantities being produced have decreased slightly since 2022, but they are still far removed from the lowest level that was recorded in 2013. And though the recycling percentage is now higher, it can and certainly must be increased further,” says the website.
It goes on, “Belgium is already a shining example. It currently recycles over 70% of its packaging waste, which will become mandatory in 2030 in line with EU requirements, and as much as 59.5% of its plastic packagings, even though the standard in that regard currently lies at 55%. Of the 27 EU Member States, Latvia is the only other country to exceed that level. And what do you think about the following extraordinary effort in particular? Here in Belgium, we barely used 4 plastic shopping bags per person in 2023, which puts us at the very top of the league of EU Member States,” says the website.
- Focus on Belgium is a website designed to present Belgium. On it, visitors will find precise and factual information about various fields (geography, history, institutions, etc.). The website also presents a series of news articles, providing reliable and verifiable information from independent and recognised sources.Focus on Belgium is a website created and managed by the Public Diplomacy Service of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
- Photo credit: Pexels
