The Circular Economy in numbers

The European Environment Agency has given some numeric basis for the circular economy in a briefing late in 2024.

• European circularity rate 11.8%

• 14 tonnes per capita of materials extracted from nature to provide goods and services

• An average European creates 5 tonnes of waste annually

• making use of generated waste through high-quality recycling systems and returning high-quality secondary materials back to product manufacturing.

• Overall recycling rate 44%

The final bullet is interesting as many waste streams classified as recycled have been proven to be falling a bit short of that definition.

https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/europes-circular-economy-in-facts