Factsheet accompanying the report presenting an updated methodology for estimating the mass of packaging materials placed on the market in EU Member States for food and beverages, home care, beauty and personal care, and pet food together covering roughly 75% of the European consumer packaging market. To this end, volume sales of consumer products by packaging type (differentiated by typology, size, and material) are combined with unitary mass coefficients associated to each packaging item. The report builds on an earlier version published in 2024, focused on the food and beverage sector. Estimates are provided for 19 MSs (covering more than 97 % of the EU population) for the period 2011-2025, at product and packaging type level. In total, 42.8 Mt of packaging POM were estimated for year 2024, consisting of 32.3 Mt glass-based packaging, 5.9 Mt plastic-based packaging, 2.1 Mt paper-based packaging (including liquid cartons), 2.3 Mt metal-based packaging, and the remaining 0.1 Mt of mixed-material packaging. Plastic packaging corresponds to an average of almost 14 kg per capita per year, ranging from 8 kg in Sweden to almost 16 kg in Germany. Over the study period, total packaging quantities remained broadly stable; glass volumes fell in 2020 before recovering, while plastic volumes increased by roughly 11 % in absolute terms. The developed methodology will be used to support MSs in the mandatory reporting of packaging waste quantities, and will be used to benchmark the quantities reported, in the context of the monitoring of the attainment of the recycling targets set out in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU 2025/40).

DE LAURENTIIS Valeria;  ORZA Vasco;  LISTORTI Giulia; 

2026-07-06

Publications Office of the European Union

JRC147543

978-92-68-41260-2 (online),    978-92-68-41261-9 (print),   

OP KJ-01-26-288-EN-N (online),    OP KJ-01-26-288-EN-C (print),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC147543,   

10.2760/4416850 (online),    10.2760/8588786 (print),