Packaging waste management is increasingly resourceefficient&ndash eu data showsbrussels, 21 january 2013 &ndash a europen analysis of official eu data on packaging waste shows that over the past twelve years the amount of used packaging sent for final disposal is declining rapidly. &ldquohigher recovery rates and particularly recycling rates are largely the reasons&rdquo, virginia janssens, acting managing director of europen, stated on the announcement of the organization&rsquos updated report on packaging waste data. &ldquoin 2010, just under 18.7 million tonnes of used packaging were sent for final disposal in the eu 27 member states. To put this into context, it has been estimated that 89 million tonnes of food were wasted in the eu 27 in 2006.&rdquothe europen analysis shows that growth in packaging waste is clearly decoupling from economic growth.
Despite a 17.5 per capita increase in household consumption expenditure on food and non alcoholic drinks between 2000 and 2010, an ageing population and a trend throughout europe toward smaller households, all leading to the purchase of a greater number of packaged goods, the amount of nonwood1 packaging placed on the market in the original eu15 member states rose by just 5.6 over the same period.despite the rising prosperity, the amount of packaging put into circulation in the new member states increased from 79 kg per capita in 2005 to 84 kg in 2010, in the eu15 it was reduced from 183 kg to 176 kg over the same period.
The net effect across eu27 was a reduction from 160 kg in 2005 to 157 kg in 2010.putting a policy context to these new statistics, the european commission&rsquos roadmap to a resource efficient europe, says waste should be treated as a resource, and aims to ensure by 2020 that, &ldquowaste generated per capita is in absolute decline&rdquo, and &ldquorecycling of waste are economically attractive options &hellip due to widespread separated collection and the development of functional markets for secondary raw materials, energy recovery is limited to non recyclable materials and landfilling is virtually eliminated.&rdquo&ldquothe eurostat data clearly demonstrate the achievements of our industry, in line with the eu resource efficiency objectives, stated ms janssens. She added that &ldquoit also reflects how the packaging supply chain has used less and less material to get products to the consumer in good condition. In the context of overall sustainability, packaging should be regarded as part of the solution, and as a net contributor to achieving the broad sustainability goals of resource optimisation and waste minimisation&rdquo.other key statistics show that 76 of the packaging placed on the market in the eu27 was recovered in2010, against 67 in 2005 and recycling rose from 55 in 2005 to 63 in 2010.
The amount sent for final disposal fell from 33 in 2005 to 24 in 2010. In eu15, recovery increased from 70 in 2005 to 79 in the inconsistent and rather unreliable data on wood skews the figures. Member states were not required to report on wood packaging and packaging waste until 2003, and in earlier years some did not do so. 2010, and recycling, which was 57 in 2005, was 65 in 2010. The amount sent for disposal fell from 30 in 2005 to 21 in 2010.the eu directive set a recycling target of 55 to be achieved by 12 member states in 2008.
The remainder, including the newer member states, are required to meet the same target by various dates between 2011 and 2015. All 12 met their 2008 deadline, and by 2010 only five of the 27 member states had not yet achieved a 55 recycling rate. A copy of the europen analysis of the packaging and packaging waste statistics 19982010 can be downloaded from the europen website www.europen.be.
