Plastics in the EU and their impact on the environment

The EU generates 42.5 million tons of this type of waste annually, according to a recent JRC study on plastics in the EU and their environmental impact, which was published at the end of July 2025. It analyzed the flows of plastic materials in the EU in 2022 and suggested possible ways to reduce their environmental impact.

Plastics in the EU

In 2022. The European Union consumed 62.8 million tons of plastics, an average of 140 kg per person. Of this, 92 percent (nearly 58 million tons) was produced in the EU. Imports are particularly large in the textile sector, accounting for 32.4 percent of all plastics imported into the Union each year. In the same year, the production and consumption of plastics in the EU (full life cycle) generated more than 252 million tons of_CO2 emissions, with production processes alone accounting for 58 percent of their climate impact.

How will plastic consumption change in the coming years?

Global consumption of plastics is expected to double by 2060, so policy and industry action is needed to reduce their negative environmental impact, particularly waste.

The widespread use of plastic will have an increasing impact on the environment, especially with regard to plastic pollution, litter and greenhouse gas emissions.

The global environment will also become increasingly polluted with microplastics, or plastic debris less than 5 mm in diameter, and macroplastics, or larger pieces. For more information on this type of pollution, see a previous article: Microplastic particles in lake waters as a global problem – awakening awareness and protective measures.

How is plastic waste recycled?

According to the study, in 2022. The EU generated 42.5 million tons of plastic waste, and about 80 percent was incinerated or dumped in a landfill. Despite an increase in the EU’s recycling capacity (five times since 1996), only about 20 percent of plastic waste is recycled. Hence the contamination of water with plastic bottles, as we wrote about in a previous article: Plastic Bottle Water Pollution, is still a common occurrence.

The packaging sector alone accounts for nearly half of all waste generated. However, nearly 35 percent of this, thanks to well-established collection systems, is sent for recycling. That’s a relatively high share: other types of waste, collected as a mixed, unsorted fraction, typically go to incineration or are landfilled. This is true, for example, of textile waste, of which only 1.5 percent goes for recycling.

A total of 3.7 million tons of plastics (almost 6 percent of EU consumption) were lost in the environment. Nearly 45 percent of these losses occurred at the consumption stage, especially from discarded packaging, used tires or washed textiles. As much as 38 percent of these losses were due to improper waste management or losses during incineration and landfilling. Most of the plastic lost to the environment ends up in the soil, but also in water (0.7 million tons).

Plastics and their impact on the environment

According to the JRC report, there has been a decline in EU plastics production between 2018 and 2022 due to factors such as fluctuating oil prices or overcapacity worldwide. In the future, accelerating the shift to production from sources other than primary fossil fuels, including plastic waste and biomass, would be a very effective way to promote recycling and reduce environmental impacts, including reducing_CO2 emissions.

Bio-based plastics are still used in very small quantities, but are becoming more common in packaging production. The use of these more environmentally friendly materials will help reduce the emissions associated with the production of plastics from fossil fuels.

More efficient collection and sorting of plastic waste would reduce its harmful environmental impact, increase recycling and ultimately promote a more closed-loop value chain. The study underscores that a combination of mechanical and chemical recycling could prove fundamental. Chemical recycling, which currently has a negligible share of the sector, could make the management of materials that are not recycled by other methods a reality.

MAIN PHOTO: Antoine GIRET/Unsplash

In the article, I used:

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC142860