New figures published by Apeal, the Association of European Producers of steel for packaging, show that the recycling rate set by the EU for 2025 has already been achieved.
Steve Claus, Secretary General of Apeal, underlined the importance of these results, stating that steel remains the most recycled packaging material in Europe, reflecting its unique properties and the fruitful cooperation of all players in the supply chain.
This is the result of a recently introduced harmonised method for calculating packaging recycling rates in the EU. Previously, Member States used different criteria to determine material recycling rates, which often led to misleading data, for example in the case of multi-material packaging.
The introduction of a new methodology that focuses on the amount of material actually recycled represents a major change in terms of data accuracy and transparency.
Several EU Member States adopted the new calculation method last year, while others will not do so until 2023. To date, only eight Member States are still using the old rules.
These figures show that by 2021, 78.5% of steel packaging will have been 'genuinely recycled', which equates to almost eight out of ten packages placed on the market. This means that the EU's target of recycling 70% of steel packaging by 2025 has already been achieved.
