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Slovenia far above EU average in processing of plastic packaging

Slovenia is far above the EU average in the processing of waste plastic packaging.
Slovenia ranks high in the EU in terms of recycling and processing of waste plastic packaging

Slovenia ranks high in the EU in terms of recycling and processing of waste plastic packaging | Author Rasto Božič, STA

Whereas according to the data for 2017, in the EU on average, 42 percent of all waste plastic packaging is reused, in Slovenia this figure is 60 percent, according to data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

At the top of the rankings of countries that most industriously process their waste plastic packaging sits Lithuania, where 74 percent of such waste is reused. Lithuania is followed by Bulgaria (65%), Cyprus (62%), Slovenia, the Czech Republic (59%), Slovakia (52%) and the Netherlands (50%).

At the lower end of the scale are Austria (33%), Hungary (32%), Ireland (31%), Estonia, Finland and France (each at 27%) and Malta (24%).

The European average percentage of processed waste plastic packaging has been on the rise in the last few years. In 2006 it still stood at just 26.4 percent, but rose to 42.4 percent by 2016, and then fell slightly in 2017.

In absolute terms, Slovenia generated around 50,164 tons of plastic waste in 2017, of which 30,275 tons were reused.