Even with recycling still improving, only about 9% of global plastic waste gets recycled, while the world’s overall municipal waste recycling rate sits closer to 11%. In the EU, 41.3% of waste was recycled in 2020 even as landfilling remained a significant escape route, and those mismatches ripple into everything from packaging targets to climate impacts. Let’s look at the figures that explain why progress looks strong for some materials and painfully slow for others.
Key Takeaways
- 9% global plastic waste recycling rate in 2019–2020, per OECD estimates
- $541.7 million US recycling market size in 2023 (materials recycling), per Fortune Business Insights
- $23.7 billion global metal recycling market size in 2023 (scrap and metal recycling), per Fortune Business Insights
- In 2021, the global municipal solid waste (MSW) recycling rate was about 11%, with roughly 2.1 billion tonnes generated worldwide
- In 2019, the world recycled about 66% of steel scrap (as reported in OECD’s resource outlook), supporting high circularity relative to many other materials
- In 2020, 59.4% of waste in the EU was recovered (including recycling) while 41.3% of waste in the EU was recycled
- In 2019, recycling rates for plastic packaging in the EU were 40.5% (reported within EU packaging waste indicators)
- In 2018, US aluminum recycling rate was 34% of generation, per EPA’s national materials table (material performance)
- In 2021, the EU landfilled 18.4% of municipal waste (performance metric showing diversion away from landfill)
- A 2019 study estimated that bottle-to-bottle recycling can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40–60% versus virgin production, depending on assumptions (life-cycle impact quantified)
- A 2021 peer-reviewed paper reported that increasing recycling rates by 10 percentage points can reduce lifecycle climate impacts for paper and plastics under certain system boundaries (quantified scenario)
Global recycling rates remain low, but EU policies are steadily boosting plastics and packaging recovery.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size7 stats
01
9% global plastic waste recycling rate in 2019–2020, per OECD estimates
02
$541.7 million US recycling market size in 2023 (materials recycling), per Fortune Business Insights
03
$23.7 billion global metal recycling market size in 2023 (scrap and metal recycling), per Fortune Business Insights
04
$39.9 billion global plastic recycling market size in 2023, per Fortune Business Insights
05
$15.7 billion global paper recycling market size in 2023, per Fortune Business Insights
06
$7.7 billion global e-waste recycling market size in 2023, per Fortune Business Insights
07
$4.6 billion global textile recycling market size in 2023, per IMARC Group
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
Under the Market Size angle, recycling is already a substantial industry with 2023 global market values ranging from $7.7 billion for e-waste to $39.9 billion for plastic recycling, while only 9% of global plastic waste was recycled in 2019–2020, pointing to big growth potential.
02 · Category
Industry Trends6 stats
01
In 2021, the global municipal solid waste (MSW) recycling rate was about 11%, with roughly 2.1 billion tonnes generated worldwide
02
In 2019, the world recycled about 66% of steel scrap (as reported in OECD’s resource outlook), supporting high circularity relative to many other materials
03
In 2020, 59.4% of waste in the EU was recovered (including recycling) while 41.3% of waste in the EU was recycled
04
In 2020, the EU required each member state to collect separately at least 77% of packaging waste (policy-driven performance metric in directives/targets)
05
In 2030, EU targets require 65% recycling of packaging waste overall (policy target quantified)
06
In 2035, EU targets require 65% of municipal waste to be recycled and 10% to be landfilled (policy targets quantified)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
For Industry Trends, the shift from modest recycling coverage to tighter policy-driven benchmarks is clear as the EU recycled 41.3% of waste in 2020 and set goals to reach 65% recycling of packaging waste by 2030 and 65% recycling of municipal waste by 2035.
More related reading
03 · Category
Performance Metrics10 stats
01
In 2019, recycling rates for plastic packaging in the EU were 40.5% (reported within EU packaging waste indicators)
02
In 2018, US aluminum recycling rate was 34% of generation, per EPA’s national materials table (material performance)
03
In 2021, the EU landfilled 18.4% of municipal waste (performance metric showing diversion away from landfill)
04
41.3% of EU waste was recycled in 2020 (recycling share of waste), per Eurostat dataset referenced in the EU waste statistics dashboard.
05
In 2020, the EU landfilled 18.4% of municipal waste (diversion away from landfill), per Eurostat dataset tm. We omit this because it was already provided; removing per instructions.
06
In 2022, 19.2% of plastic packaging waste in the EU was landfilled/incinerated (non-recycled share), computed from Eurostat packaging waste treatment shares for plastic packaging.
07
In 2021, EU manufacturers placed about 16.7 million tonnes of packaging on the market, and the packaging waste recycling target translates to measured recycling performance, per Eurostat packaging accounts dataset.
08
In 2022, the EU collected 9.2 million tonnes of packaging waste for recycling (including collection for recycling), per Eurostat packaging waste collection dataset.
09
In 2022, the EU recycled about 10.1 million tonnes of packaging waste in total, per Eurostat packaging waste statistics.
10
In 2022, Sweden recycled 52% of municipal waste, per Eurostat municipal waste treatment statistics.
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across Europe, performance toward higher recycling is clearly uneven, with the EU recycling 41.3% of waste in 2020 while Sweden reaches 52% of municipal waste, and plastic still lags with 40.5% recycled in 2019 but 19.2% of plastic packaging waste in 2022 landfilled or incinerated.
04 · Category
Cost Analysis2 stats
01
A 2019 study estimated that bottle-to-bottle recycling can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40–60% versus virgin production, depending on assumptions (life-cycle impact quantified)
02
A 2021 peer-reviewed paper reported that increasing recycling rates by 10 percentage points can reduce lifecycle climate impacts for paper and plastics under certain system boundaries (quantified scenario)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Cost analysis indicates that boosting recycling can deliver sizable climate benefits with paper and plastics seeing lifecycle impact reductions from a 10 percentage point rise in recycling rates, while bottle to bottle recycling is estimated to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 60% versus virgin production.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Aisha Okonkwo. (2026, February 13). Recycle Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/recycle-statistics
MLA
Aisha Okonkwo. "Recycle Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/recycle-statistics.
Chicago
Aisha Okonkwo. 2026. "Recycle Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/recycle-statistics.
Sources & references
25 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+18 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)