Packaging waste management is increasingly resource efficient - EU data shows

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. The 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 non-wood packaging placed on the market in the original EU-15 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 79kg per capita in 2005 to 84kg in 2010, in the EU-15 it was reduced from 183kg to 176kg over the same period. The net effect across EU-27 was a reduction from 160kg in 2005 to 157kg in 2010 (Press Release EUROPEN, 21 January 2013).