Environment

Marked increase in EU exports of recyclables in 2023

Published

2 years ago

October 15, 2024

In 2023, the EU exported 8.5 million tonnes of recyclable products (paper, plastic and glass) to extra-EU countries, a 34% increase from 2022 (6.4 million tonnes), while imports dropped by 19% to 3.2 million tonnes, down from 4.0 million tonnes in 2022. Compared with 2013, these exports fell by 5%, from 9.0 to 8.5 million tonnes (mostly due to a 44% drop in plastic exports between 2013 and 2023), while imports remained stable at 3.2 million tonnes.

In 2023, paper was the most exported recyclable product, representing 81.6% of exports (7.0 million tonnes), followed by plastic (15.6%; 1.3 million tonnes) and glass (2.8%; 0.2 million tonnes). In the same year, 1.7 million tonnes of paper were imported, accounting for over half (51.2%) of all recyclable products imported. The second-largest import category was glass (25.4%; 0.8 million tonnes), followed by plastic (23.4% and 0.7 million tonnes).

India, Indonesia and Vietnam: Main export destinations for recyclable paper in 2023

In 2023, India was the largest destination of recyclable paper exports (32% of total extra-EU paper exports), followed by Indonesia (17%) and Vietnam (13%).

Extra-EU trade partners for exports of recyclables, % of total in each category, 2023. Infographic. See link to full dataset below.

Source dataset: DS-045409

As for exports of recyclable plastic, Türkiye was the largest destination (22% of total extra-EU plastic exports), followed by Malaysia (21%) and Indonesia (19%).

In 2023, recyclable glass was predominantly exported to the United Kingdom (39% of total extra-EU glass export), Moldova (10%) and Türkiye (9%).

United Kingdom: top supplier of recyclable products to the EU

Extra-EU imports of recyclable products came largely from the United Kingdom, which accounted for 31% of total paper imports, 47% of plastic and 36% of glass imports.

The second-largest supplier of recyclable paper was the United States (29% of extra-EU paper imports), followed by Switzerland (18%). Imports of recyclable plastic also came from the United States (8%), followed by Norway (7%). The second-largest supplier of recyclable glass was also the United States (29%), followed by Switzerland (12%).