New report ranks Austria as best recycling country in the world

To celebrate World Environment Day, Eunomia Research and Consulting has published a new report Global Recycling League Table in conjunction with Reloop, TOMRA Recycling, the Welsh Government, the Can Manufacturers Institute, and the International Aluminium Institute.

The report examines the recycling performance of 48 countries, including the countries that report the highest recycling rates and many of the world’s largest economies. The study also includes lower income countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, to highlight global disparities.

Key highlights from the study

• Austria has been revealed as the top-performing country for recycling. Wales leads the way in the UK, coming in at number 2. Northern Ireland was ranked 9th, England at 11th, and Scotland at 15th.
• The world’s top recyclers are not exceeding a 60% recycling rate for municipal waste, once differences in reporting practice are accounted for.
• Eight of the top 10 recyclers are found within Europe, with seven being in Western Europe, reflecting the longstanding strategies and policies that have driven investments in collection, logistics, sorting and reprocessing across the continent.
• The exceptions are two East Asian nations, Taiwan and South Korea, which also have long-established collection and treatment systems. These results highlight the importance of long-term investment in making recycling convenient and efficient, as well as the role that establishing behavioural norms over many years plays in creating a recycling culture.
• The countries with the biggest drops in reported recycling rates were Singapore, South Korea, Spain and Germany. A few countries saw adjustments increase the performance or compensate for the fact that they were not reporting recycling rates – China and South Africa being the biggest beneficiaries.