The Global Recycling League Table: Phase One Report was published by Eunomia Research Consulting in conjunction with Reloop, the Welsh Government, the Can Manufacturers Institute, TOMRA Recycling, and the International Aluminium Institute, to coincide with World Environment Day.
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.
The report compares countries’ recycling rates on a like-for like basis. The focus is on ‘municipal waste’ recycling rates in line with the definition used by the EU. Municipal waste is household waste and waste from other sources that are similar in nature and composition to household waste. A country’s performance was analysed from their officially reported recycling rate (if they have one – wherever possible using a figure that approximates a “municipal” recycling rate) and endeavours to use underlying waste data and other published sources to adjust the results to present them on a consistent basis.
