COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Measuring progress towards circular economy in the European Union – Key indicators for a monitoring framework Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on a monitoring framework for the circular economy
Date: 2018-01-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU production, EU statistics, competitiveness, consumption, innovation, raw material, waste, waste recycling

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Strasbourg, 16.1.2018  SWD(2018) 17 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Measuring progress towards circular economy in the European Union – Key indicators for a monitoring framework Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS  on a monitoring framework for the circular economy  {COM(2018) 29 final}  
 
 
1. Introduction 

In the 2015 EU action plan for the circular economy1 the Commission announced the development of 
a  monitoring  framework  for  the  circular  economy.  The  framework  aims  to  measure  progress  and  to 
assess the effectiveness of action towards the circular economy in the EU and Member States.  

To this end, and building on existing data, a set of meaningful indicators were identified to cover the 
different phases of the circular economy. The framework is a key tool to show if the existing policy 
initiatives are successful in delivering the expected results and it allows identifying areas where more 
action is needed. 

This document lays out the methodology used for selecting the indicators and includes an analytical 
description for each of them. A summary of the consultations of the Member States and stakeholders 
is also included. Section 3 provides the key metadata (data source, use in Commission documents, web 
links) for each indicator.  

The underlying data populating the various indicators provide a snapshot of what we know today2. To 
ensure  regular  reporting  on  circular  economy,  Eurostat  will  regularly  update  the  monitoring 
framework on circular economy on its website3. 

1.1. Material flows in the circular economy 

Due to the cross-cutting nature of the circular economy, measuring progress towards its achievement 
requires a multi-faceted approach. One effective illustration of the circular economy at macro level is a 
Sankey diagram of material flows4, which provides, for a given year, a representation of how materials 
flow  in  the  economy  from  import  /  extraction  over  to  production,  use  and  then  waste  and  reuse 
(recycling and backfilling). The diagram combines Eurostat economy-wide material flow accounts and 
waste statistics with additional data collection and research5. 

1 COM(2015) 614/2 Closing the loop – an EU action plan for the circular economy 
2 Reported data are the ones available on 1st December 2017 
3 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/circular-economy. 
4 These have been published in a scientific article from Haas W., Krausmann F., Wiedenhofer D. and Heinz M. 
in 2015, with the aim of providing a rough but comprehensive assessment of the circularity of an economy at the 
level of material groups. 
5 Due to the assumptions made, the authors generally considered that the model overestimates the circular use of 
materials in the EU economy. See Annex 2 for details 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Figure 1. Sankey diagram on material flows in the EU economy (2014) 

Source:  Andreas  Mayer,  Willi  Haas,  Dominik  Wiedenhofer,  Fridolin  Krausmann,  Philip  Nuss,  Gian  Andrea 
Blengini  (forthcoming):  Monitoring  the  circular  economy  in  the  EU28  -  A  mass-balanced  assessment  of 
economy wide material flows, waste and emissions from official statistics. In: Journal of Industrial Ecology. 

The  overview  of  material  flows  in  2014  (Figure  1)  shows  that  on  input-side  (on  the  left)  8  billion 
tonnes of raw materials were processed during 2014 in the EU: of this 1.5 billion (i.e. around 20%) are 
imported, which indicates the EU dependency on imports of materials. Out of the 8 billion tonnes of 
processed materials, 3.1 billion tonnes are directed to energetic use, 4.2 to material use and 0.6 are not 
used in the EU but exported.  

The output-side on the right shows that the bulk of the used materials that are used are converted into 
emissions to air (2.5 billion tonnes) or waste (1.5 billion tonnes). Only 0.6 billion tonnes of materials 
originate  from  recycling  and  are  used  as  secondary  raw  materials.  In  addition  0.1  billion  tonnes  are 
used  for  backfilling.  These  0.7  billion  tonnes  of  raw  materials  (for  recycling  and  backfilling)  only 
represent one third of the 2.2 billion tonnes of raw materials that are contained in products that have 
reached their end-of-life ("end-of-life waste"); the remaining 1.5 billion tonnes, is waste that does not 
re-enter the economy. Potential for improvement lies in particular in increasing the share of recycled 
materials and decreasing the waste generated. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  consider  material  flows  in  the  EU  disaggregated  per  material  category. 
(Figure 2).  

2 

 
 
 
Most of the 3.5 billion tonnes of non-metallic minerals (shown at the top left) that are used in the EU 
originate from domestic extraction. 3.1 billion  tonnes of non-metallic  minerals  are used  to build  up 
so-called "societal stocks" such as buildings and infrastructure.  
Metal ores (shown at the top right) only represent a minor fraction of the EU's material consumption 
in terms of mass, while they are of high value and strategic importance to the economy.  More than 
30% of the metals that are processed in the EU originate from recycling.  

Figure 2: Material flows in the EU-28 economy per material category (2014)6. 

Less than 3% of the processed fossil energy carriers (shown at the bottom left) are used as plastics, 
oils,  tyres  or  for  chemical  purposes.  More  than  half  of  these  materials  are  recovered  when  they 
reach their end-of-life, either through recycling or backfilling. 
Finally, less than 20% of the processed biomass (presented at the bottom right) is used for material 
purposes, while the rest is used for energetic purposes such as food, feed and agro-fuels. Only 28% of 
biotic materials that become waste are fed back into the economy through recycling. 

6

 Source: Andreas Mayer, Willi Haas, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Fridolin Krausmann, Philip Nuss, Gian Andrea 
Blengini (forthcoming): Monitoring the circular economy in the EU28 - A mass-balanced assessment of 
economy wide material flows, waste and emissions from official statistics. In: Journal of Industrial Ecology 

3 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
These Sankey diagrams of material flows provide a broad picture of how circular the economy is in a 
given year. To monitor the progress made in the different areas of the EU action plan for the circular 
economy a set of meaningful indicators is however needed.  

2. Indicators 

The  monitoring  framework  consists  of  10  indicators,  some  of  which  are  broken  down  in  sub-
indicators.  The  list  uses  available  data  while  also  earmarking  areas  where  new  indicators  are  in  the 
process of being developed, in particular for green public procurement and food waste. 

The framework is structured into four broad areas, for which relevant indicators have been identified 
(see Table 1). 

Production and consumption 
Monitoring the production and consumption phase is essential for understanding progress towards the 
circular  economy.  In  the  longer  term  this  transition  may  contribute  to  increasing  the  EU's  self-
sufficiency of selected raw materials for production in the EU. Households and economic activities 
should decrease the amount of  waste generated. Waste generation should decrease in terms of the 
amount of waste produced both by households and by economic activities. In this regard  municipal 
waste generated per capita together with the generation of waste excluding major mineral waste 
divided  by  GDP,  and  the  efficient  use  of  materials  in  the  economy  is  expressed  by  generation  of 
waste excluding major mineral waste divided by domestic material consumption. The indicator of 
food  waste  generation  is  relevant  because  it  measures  an  important  waste  stream  with  significant 
environmental impact. In addition, the share of green public procurement in the economy provides 
useful indication of how much public funds contribute to the circular economy. 

Waste management 
This  area  focuses  on  the  share  of  waste  which  is  recycled  as  this  is  the  treatment  by  which  waste 
materials  are  actually  returned  to  the  economic  cycle  and  can  continue  creating  value.  Two  main 
indicators monitor overall progress in recycling of waste and  the recycling in specific waste streams. 
The  most  appropriate  indicators  to  track  overall  targets  are  the  recycling  of  all  waste  excluding 
major mineral wastes and the recycling of municipal waste, which is subject to binding targets in 
EU  legislation.  The  focus  as  regards  specific  waste  streams  is  on  those  that  currently  present  a 
significant  challenge  for  the  economy  and  the  environment  such  as  packaging  waste,  including 
plastic  and  wood,  bio-waste,  and  electrical  and  electronic  waste,  as  well  as  construction  and 
demolition  waste.  Most  of  these  specific  waste  streams  are  also  linked  to  binding  targets  in  EU 
legislation and to deliverables of the Action plan for the Circular Economy.  

Secondary raw materials 
To close loops of the circular economy, materials and products need to ultimately be reinjected in the 
economy.  One  of  the  most  important  indicators  for  the  circular  economy  is  about  how  recycled 
materials  replace  extraction  of  natural  resources  and  how  much  of  the  waste  materials  are 
actually reincorporated back in the economy. This is the purpose of the circular material use rate 
and the end-of-life recycling rates  indicators,  the former for the overall economy and the latter for 
specific  important  materials.  Moreover,  in  order  to  have  an  increasing  share  of  secondary  raw 
materials  in  the  economy,  it  is  important  to  establish  stable  markets  for  them,  therefore  another 

4 

 
 
 
relevant  indicator  is  related  to  the  trade  of  recyclable  raw  materials  between  the  EU  Member 
States and with the rest of the world. 

Competitiveness and innovation 
A  more  circular  economy  will  increase  the  life  span  of  products  through  improving  design  for 
circularity  and  increasing  reuse,  reparability,  durability,  and  upgradability,  promoting  innovative 
industrial processes (e.g. industrial symbiosis) and supporting innovative forms of consumption such 
as the collaborative economy. Two indicators are included to monitor developments in this area: one 
about the economics of circular economy sectors (the recycling, repair and reuse)7 in terms of jobs, 
investments,  and  gross  value  added,  and  another  one  about  patents  related  to  recycling  and 
secondary raw materials as a proxy for innovation. 

2.1. Selection criteria  

The  framework  consists  of  10  indicators  and  is  based  on  existing  official  statistics  coming  from 
Eurostat  and  other  official  sources  (the  European  Commission  including  the  Joint  Research  Centre, 
and  the  European  Patent  Office).  As  such  it  will  not  increase  the  administrative  burden  on  Member 
States. The selected  indicators have  been  evaluated against how they perform  in terms of relevance, 
acceptability, credibility, easiness and robustness (also known as RACER). 

The indicators on green public procurement and food waste are included even if statistical work is still 
ongoing and data will only be available in the coming years. 

2.2 Results of the consultations 

Member  States  and  stakeholders  were  consulted  during  the  second  quarter  of  2017.  The  current 
indicators take into account a careful assessment of the comments received. 

Most stakeholders agreed with the majority of suggested indicators. A recurrent concern was that the 
coverage was slightly skewed towards waste management related information while covering less the 
other phases of the circular economy loop such as production, consumption, re-use and repair, thereby 
missing  out  on  some  important  transformation  trends  and  economic  opportunities.  In  absence  of 
available data or even methodologies to measure these aspects, however, at present it is necessary to 
work with other available information that may give some more indirect indications of performance.  

Many  valuable  comments  concerned  technical  considerations  on  how  to  populate  the  indicators, 
measurement  units  etc.  These  comments  have  helped  to  ensure  a  high  degree  of  reliability  and  data 
comparison. 

The following table includes the final list of indicators and sub-indicators. 

7 Renting and leasing arrangements can contribute to circular economy, but have for now been excluded because 
current statistics may not distinguish with sufficient granularity those transactions that clearly contribute to 
circular economy and those that do not.  

5 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Table 1   
Production and consumption 

1 

2 

3 

EU self-sufficiency for raw materials 

*Green Public Procurement  

Waste generation 

3a  Generation of municipal waste per capita  

3b  Generation of waste excluding major mineral waste per GDP unit  

3c  Generation of waste excluding major mineral waste per domestic material consumption unit  

4 

*Food waste 

Waste management 

5 

Recycling rates  

5a  Recycling rate of municipal waste 

5b  Recycling rate of all waste excluding major mineral waste 

6 

Recycling / recovery for specific waste streams  

6a  Recycling rate of overall packaging waste 

6b  Recycling rate of plastic packaging waste  

6c  Recycling rate of wooden packaging 

6d  Recycling rate of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) 

6e  Recycling of biowaste per capita 

6f  Recovery rate of construction and demolition waste 

Secondary raw materials 

7 

Contribution of recycled materials to raw materials demand 

7a  End-of-life recycling input rates  

7b  Circular material use rate 

8 

Trade in recyclable raw materials  

Competitiveness and innovation 

9 

Private investments, jobs and gross value added related to circular economy sectors  

9a  Gross investment in tangible goods 

9b  Number of persons employed  

9c  Value added at factor cost 

10 

Number of patents related to recycling and secondary raw materials 

*  

Indicator under development  

6 

 
 
2.3 Dissemination of indicator set 

The Commission (Eurostat) disseminates all the indicators in a newly created dedicated site  8 for the 
circular  economy.  This  website  also  provides  a  brief  introduction  to  the  monitoring  framework, 
background and a list of relevant links.  

The  data  for  all  the  indicators  and  sub-indicators  are  reported  together  in  a  visualisation  tool  9  to 
facilitate  comparing  the  indicators  for  a  given  Member  State  or  for  the  EU.  This  is  the  main  data 
source  for  users,  which  can  find  all  the  information  in  a  single  place.  In  addition,  tables  for  each 
indicator  and  sub-indicator,  as  well  as  the  corresponding  explanatory  metadata,  are  also  available  in 
the Eurostat online database. In some cases tables with further breakdowns, alternative units (measures 
as percentage instead of absolute values, etc.) are also available.  

8 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/circular-economy  
9 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main  

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
3. Description of the indicators and first trends observed  

1. EU SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR RAW MATERIALS 

Relevance for the circular economy 

Raw  materials  are  essential  for  the  functioning  of  the  EU's  economy.  A  wide  variety  of  industrial 
sectors depend on the secure supply of raw materials, including critical raw materials10, typically in a 
diversified  mix  of  domestic  extraction,  recycling  and  imports.  This  mix  is  different  for  every  raw 
material and depends on a number of natural and economic factors. A circular economy can contribute 
to  reducing  the  supply  risks  related  to  a  high  import  reliance  of  the  EU  for  specific  raw  materials 
through enhanced recycling. 

Facts and figures  
Figure 1.1: Self-sufficiency rate for a selection of raw materials11 in 2016  

The EU's self-sufficiency is different for each raw material. For some raw materials, such as indium 
or limestone the EU is largely self-sufficient or even a net-exporter. This is the case for the majority 
of non-metallic minerals12. 

10  Critical  raw  materials  are  raw  materials  of  high  importance  to  the  EU  economy  which  have  a  high  risk 
associated with their supply. 
11 Materials highlighted with an asterisk (*) are included in the 2017 list of Critical Raw Materials 
12 See also the Raw Materials Scoreboard, indicator 3 on share of imports. 

8 

 
 
 
                                                            
For  a  number  of  bulk  materials,  such  as  aluminium,  copper  or  iron  ore,  the  EU's  self-sufficiency 
varies between 15% and 40%. For some of these materials recycling's contribution to total materials 
demand stands between 20% and 30% (see indicator 7a). 

For most critical raw materials there is a major supply risk, i.e.  linked to geopolitical risks in some 
countries. In most cases the supply from recycling for these materials is relatively low compared to 
total  demand  (see  indicator  7a).  This  is  mostly  because  primary  extraction  is  often  more  economic 
than  recycling,  since  these  materials  are  used  in  very  small  quantities  (making  collection  and 
separation costly) and/or because it is often difficult to recycle these materials at sufficient degrees of 
purity.  

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition: Self-sufficiency is defined as (1 – (net) Import reliance).  

Import reliance is defined in the EU Critical Raw Materials methodology 13as   

𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 –  𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕
𝑫𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏  +  𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 –  𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 

 

Interpretation of the indicator 

o  The  indicator  provides  insights  in  the  differences  between  materials:  for  certain  raw 
materials  the  EU  is  more  self-sufficient  than  for  others.  The  data  source  allows  for  a 
disaggregation per material, which adds important nuance. 

o  Due  to  increasing  demand  for  certain  materials,  even  if  100%  were  recycled,  the  EU 
would still not be self-sufficient. For example, annual demand in the EU for raw materials 
used in solar photo voltaic technologies (such as silicon, copper, tellurium and indium) is 
expected to increase by 270% by 2030.  

o  The indicator should be considered in a broader context considering potential disruption 
of  supply  in  the  context  of  economically  sensitive  areas.  International  trade  is  very 
important for the EU economy. For certain materials with high supply risks, the analysis 
of  self-sufficiency,  in  combination  with  an  analysis  of  the  source  countries  for  these 
materials, can help assessing supply risks for these materials. 

o  Whereas  the  indicator  provides  an  insight  into  the  current  situation,  it  does  not  assess 
potential  future  sources,  increases  in  demand,  nor  the  potential  import/extraction 
reductions feasible through increased recycling.   

  Data  source:  European  Commission,  List  of  Critical  Raw  Materials  (2017),  based  on  data 
from  the  British  Geological  Survey  and  the  Austrian  Federal  Ministry  of  Science,  Research 
and  Economy's  World  Mining  Data,  who  both  collect  data  from  national  agencies.  The 
European Commission14 has committed to updating the list of Critical Raw Materials every 3 
years (COM (2011) 25). The third, 2017 assessment includes 78 materials. 

13 Blengini, G.A., Blagoeva, D., Dewulf, J., Torres de Matos, C., Nita, V., Vidal-Legaz, B., Latunussa, C.E.L., 
Kayam, Y., Talens Peirò, L., Baranzelli, C., Manfredi, S., Mancini, L., Nuss, P., Marmier, A., Alves-Dias, P., 
Pavel,  C.,  Tzimas,  E.,  Mathieux,  F.,  Pennington,  D.  and  Ciupagea,  C.    Assessment  of  the  Methodology  for 
Establishing  the  EU  List  of  Critical  Raw  Materials,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  Luxemburg, 
2017, 978-92-79-69612-1, doi:10.2760/73303, JRC106997 
14  Data  were  presented  to  experts  for  peer-review  in  a  dedicated  expert  group  of  the  Raw  Materials  Supply 
Group  –  Ad  hoc  Working  Group  (AHWG)  on  defining  critical  raw  materials.  Three  stakeholder  validation 
workshops, involving the AHWG and other relevant experts took place on 25, 28 October and 7 November 2016 
with the aim to review the data used for the purpose of criticality calculations. 

9 

 
 
 
                                                            
2. GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT 

Relevance for the circular economy 
Public procurement accounts for a large proportion of European consumption (approximately 14% 
of  EU  GDP).  If  circularity  requirements  (reparability,  durability,  recyclability  etc.)  are 
systematically  included in public contracts, public procurement  can play a key  role in  the circular 
economy.  The  indicator  is  relevant  to  target  Sustainable  Development  Goal  12.7.  Promote  public 
procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities. 

Facts and figures 
The indicator is under development. 
Data will be collected for the first time with a new version of the public procurement standard forms15, 
which is currently under preparation. A question on green public procurement would be mandatory to 
answer in all public procurement procedures in the EU above the procurement thresholds16, which are 
around 150 000 procurement procedures a year. 
It should be noted that it will take several years for this data to become available. Presently the horizon 
is to have the data by 2020. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition:  The  share  of  public  procurement  procedures  above  the  EU  thresholds,  in 

number and value, which include environmental criteria. 

In  the  forms  to  be  completed  for  all  tenders  above  the  EU  value  thresholds,  public 
authorities could tick 'yes' or 'no' to say if in the tender documents, a 'technical specification, 
award  criterion,  or  contract  performance  condition  aims  at  reducing  the  environmental 
impact of the procurement'. 

 

Interpretation: For the first time, such information would be available for the procurement 
above  the  thresholds  for  the  whole  EU  (more  than  150  000  procedures  per  year)17. 
Identifying  product  groups  and  Member  States  with  less  GPP  uptake  informs  and  allows 
initiation of more targeted actions. 

'Aiming to reduce environmental impact' is likely to be interpreted differently by different 
authorities.  This  stems  also  from  the  fact  that  'reducing  environmental  impact',  and  the 
underlying concept of 'green procurement' is a complex, multi-faceted issue where finding a 
perfectly accurate legal or environmental definition may not be possible. The results might 
generate  an  overly  positive  picture  of  the  use  of  GPP  especially  for  the  value  of  green 
tenders.  The  most  valuable  contracts  are  often  in  the  field  of  construction  where  almost 
every  public  authority  is  likely  to  take  some  environmental  element  into  account.  The 
indicator  is  a  proxy  showing  trends  in  a  significant  proportion  of  the  demand  side.  In 
addition, not all the criteria will necessarily relate to the circular economy. 

Data source: European Commission 

15 The current standard forms are available on: http://simap.ted.europa.eu/en/web/simap/standard-forms-for-
public-procurement  
16 It is mandatory to open the procurement to all EU companies if the amount for public procurement is above 
the thresholds available on: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/public-procurement/rules-
implementation/thresholds_en 
17 The new standard form should be approved as an implementing regulation by the Advisory Committee on 
Public Procurement. 

10 

 
 
 
                                                            
3. WASTE GENERATION  

3 a) Generation of municipal waste (per capita) 

Relevance for the circular economy 
This indicator focuses on municipal waste. Even though municipal waste only represents about 10% in 
weight of the total waste generated or about 30% of the generated amount of waste excluding major 
mineral  waste,  following  up  on  its  evolution  can  give  a  good  indication  of  changing  consumption 
patterns, Member States' waste prevention performance and where citizens' actions and involvement is 
most relevant.  

Facts and figures 

Figure 3.1: Generation of municipal waste per capita 

Note: 2016 data for Ireland, Greece, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Finland and United Kingdom are not available 
and the following data are used: (2015) Greece, Austria, Romania, Finland and United Kingdom, (2012) Ireland 
and (2014) Portugal. 2010 data for Denmark are not available and 2011 value is reported instead. 

In 2016 each EU citizen generated on average 480 kg of municipal waste, down from 515 kg in 2005 
(-6.8%).  In  absolute  terms,  municipal  waste  in  the  EU  decreased  from  255  million  tonnes  to  245 
million tonnes during the period 2005-2016. 

Municipal  waste  generation  vary  considerably  across  countries  in  2016,  ranging  from  762  kg  per 
capita in Denmark to 247 kg per capita in Romania (for Romania this refers to 2015). Five Member 
States produce more than 600 kg of municipal waste per capita, while two countries produce less than 
320 kg per capita. This is due partly to differences in consumption patterns and economic wealth and 
partly to how municipal waste is currently collected and managed. Different levels of municipal waste 
an also reflect differences in the organization of the municipal waste management, as well as different 
methods for measuring municipal waste generated. 

11 

 
 
 
 
While over the period 2005-2016 municipal waste per capita has decreased in the EU, Member States 
show different trends. In particular, six countries increased municipal waste per capita by more than 
10%, while Romania, Bulgaria Spain and United Kingdom reduced their municipal waste per capita 
generation by more than 20% during 2005-2016. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition:  The  amount  of  municipal  waste  generated  consists  of  waste  collected  by  or  on 
behalf  of  municipal  authorities  and  disposed  of  through  the  waste  management  system.  It 
consists  to  a  large  extent  of  waste  generated  by  households,  though  similar  wastes  from 
sources such as commerce, offices and public institutions can be included. The scope of data 
collection on similar waste may currently vary from municipality to municipality and among 
Member States, depending on the local waste management system. This issue is addressed in 
the Commission proposal to amend the Waste Framework Directive with the introduction of a 
harmonised, legally binding definition of municipal waste18. Wastes from agriculture and from 
industries are not included.  Overall municipal waste generated is divided by the population.  

 

Interpretation of the indicator: Reducing municipal waste generation is an indication of the 
effectiveness  of  waste  prevention  measures  and  changing  patterns  of  consumption. 
Concentrating  on  municipal  waste  rather  than  on  industrial  waste  has  the  advantage  that  it 
reflects  the  consumption  side  and  is  not  affected  by  the  presence  or  lack  of  large 
manufacturing sectors in a country.  

The indicator is based on solid data and is available in time series. The population is factored 
in to allow for comparability among Member States. However, the different interpretations of 
the definition currently limit to some extent the comparability among countries; therefore the 
most important information is given through the time series.  

  Data source:  Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste operations (env_wasmun) 

18 COM(2015) 595 final 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
3 b) Generation of waste, excluding major mineral waste, per GDP unit 

Relevance for the circular economy 
In  the  circular  economy,  waste  generation  is  decoupled  from  GDP  growth,  i.e.  waste  generated 
increases  less  rapidly  than  GDP    (relative  decoupling  )  or  decreases  even  when  the  economy  is 
growing  (absolute  decoupling).  Comparing  waste  generated  to  GDP19  reflects  the  waste  intensity  of 
the economy and provides a measure of "eco-efficiency". 

The  indicator  on  overall  waste  generation  excludes  major  mineral  waste  because  the  weight  of  total 
waste  generation  and  treatment  is  mainly  driven by mineral  waste  from  construction/demolition  and 
from mining activities20 , and the latter widely varies in importance across Member States. Excluding 
major  mineral  wastes  reflects  more  accurately  general  trends  than  the  total  waste  and  improves 
comparability across countries.  

Facts and figures 

Note: 2010 data for Cyprus not available. 

In 2014 in the EU 66 kg of waste (excluding major mineral waste) was generated per thousand EUR of 
GDP. Waste generation per GDP decreased by 11% in the EU between 2006 and 2014, thus improving 
eco- efficiency of economic activity.  

The  waste  generated  per  GDP  shows  a  wide  variation  among  Member  States:  six  Member  States 
produced less than 50 kg of waste (excluding mineral waste) per EUR GDP, while few countries have 
a value of more than 400 kg/ thousand EUR GDP. The presence of certain industries affects the level 

19 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the most common measure of the size of an economy: it includes the total 
market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year. 
20 Almost two thirds (64 % or 3.2 tonnes per inhabitant) of the total waste generated in the EU-28 in 2014 
was  major  mineral  wastes.  In  some  EU  Member  States,  having  relatively  sizeable  mining  and  quarrying 
activities and/or construction and demolition activities, major mineral wastes accounted 85 % or more of all 
waste generated. It accounts for less than 20% in others. 

13 

 
 
 
                                                            
of waste generation; for example high value for Estonia is due to waste from energy production from 
oil shale. 

During  2006-2014  the  indicator  decreased  by  more  than  50%  in  Lithuania,  Portugal  and  Romania, 
while increasing by more than 30% in Italy and Ireland. This may be partially explained by the impact 
of the financial crisis. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition:  This  indicator  is  defined  as  all  waste  generated  in  a  country,  excluding  major 
mineral  waste,  per  GDP  unit.  Major  mineral  waste  accounts,  on  EU  average,  for  almost  two 
thirds of total waste generated. Its exclusion enhances comparability across countries as mineral 
waste accounts for high quantities in some countries due to economic activities such as mining 
and construction.  
Interpretation  of  the  indicator:  The  high  variation  of  the  indicator  may  also  be  due  to  a 
number of factors: 

 

o  Differences  in  waste  classification  by  Member  States  may  result  in  partial  non-
comparability,  e.g.  high  value  for  Estonia  results  from  including  waste  from  energy 
production. 

o  Differences  in  purchasing  power  are  not  fully  reflected  in  exchange  rates,  thus 

undermining comparability across Member States.  

o  Different  structures  of 

the  economy  as  regards  materials-intensive  sectors  and 
specialization of certain Member States in high value services (e.g. finance or IT sectors). 
  Data source: Eurostat. Generation of waste by waste category, hazardousness and NACE Rev. 
2  activity  (env_wasgen)  collected  on  the  basis  of  the  Regulation  on  waste  statistics  (EC)  No. 
2150/2002, amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 849/2010. The information on waste 
generation  is  broken  down  by  source  (several  business  activities  according  to  the  NACE 
classification  and  household  activities)  and  by  waste  category  (according  to  the  European 
Waste Classification for statistical purposes). The latter allows disclosing and excluding major 
mineral waste. 
Annual  national  accounts.  GDP  and  main  components  (output,  expenditure  and  income 
(nama_10_gdp) 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
3 c) Generation of waste, excluding major mineral waste, per Domestic Material Consumption 
unit 

Relevance for the circular economy 
This  indicator  tracks  the  efficiency  of  EU  material  consumption  by  comparing  the  tonnes  of  waste 
generated to domestic material consumption (DMC). DMC sums up the total use of resources driven 
by domestic demand distinguishing it from consumption driven by the export market. Therefore, this 
indicator gives an indication of "material efficiency".  

Facts and figures 

Figure 3.2: Generation of waste, excluding major mineral wastes, per DMC  

Note: 2010 data for Cyprus is missing and the graph shows 2012 instead. 

In  2014  on  average  the  EU  produced  0.13  kg  of  waste  (excluding  major  mineral  waste)  per  kg  of 
DMC, that means that 13% of domestic materials consumption ended up as waste. Waste generation 
per  DMC  increased  by  11%  in  the  EU  between  2006  and  2014,  resulting  from  a  decrease  of  waste 
generation  by  8%  and  a  simultaneous  decrease  of  DMC  by  19%,  which  indicates  that  efficiency  of 
material consumption decreased in terms of waste production. 2014 data show a wide variation among 
Member  States:  the  indicator  ranges  from  less  than  5%  in  Romania  and  Latvia  to  25%  in  the 
Netherland and Italy, reaching 34% (or 0.34 kg waste/kg DMC) in Estonia (due to the use of oil shale 
for energy production). 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition:  the  indicator  has  the  same  numerator  as  indicator  3b  above,  but  it  uses  DMC  as 
denominator.  DMC  is  defined  as  the  annual  quantity  of  raw  materials  extracted  from  the 
domestic territory, plus all physical imports and minus all physical exports.  

15 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 

Interpretation  of  the  indicator:  The  indicator  serves  as  a  material  efficiency  indicator  by 
comparing  the  quantity  of  waste  generated  to  DMC.  The  smaller  the  value  of  the  ratio,  the 
better  the  performance.  The  indicator’s  major  advantage  for  comparison  across  countries  and 
over  time  is  that  it  is  less  affected  by  differences  in  the  production  structure  of  an  economy. 
DMC does not include upstream "hidden" flows related to imports and exports of raw materials 
and products21. This indicator is a ratio that may not be very meaningful without further context 
indicators. The ratio is strongly influenced by the non-metallic mineral component of DMC. 
  Data source: Eurostat. Generation of waste by waste category, hazardousness and NACE Rev. 
2  activity  (env_wasgen)  collected  on  the  basis  of  the  Regulation  on  waste  statistics  (EC)  No. 
2150/2002, amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 849/2010. The information on waste 
generation  is  broken  down  by  source  (several  business  activities  according  to  the  NACE 
classification  and  household  activities)  and  by  waste  category  (according  to  the  European 
Waste Classification for statistical purposes). The latter allows disclosing and excluding major 
mineral waste. 
Economy-Wide Material Flow Accounts (env_ac_mfa) for Domestic Material Consumption.  

21  A  material  footprint  indicator  'Raw  Material  Consumption'  is  being  developed  in  order  to  tackle  embedded 
materials 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
products.  See 
exported 
explained/index.php/Material_flow_accounts_-_flows_in_raw_material_equivalents 

imported 

also: 

and 

in 

16 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
4) FOOD WASTE   

Relevance for the circular economy 
Food waste is waste which is generated in the production, distribution and consumption of food. Food 
waste is a significant concern in Europe (estimated to be around 20% of all food produced), and it is 
associated with pressure on finite natural resources, the environment and climate change. It also has 
important  financial  costs,  which  have  been  estimated  as  143  billion  EUR22  for  the  EU  in  2012.  A 
priority  sector  of  the  EU  action  plan  for  the  circular  economy  addresses  food  waste  and  the 
sustainability of the food system. 

In  the  context  of  the  2030  Agenda  for  Sustainable  Development,  the  indicator  is  relevant  to  target 
Sustainable  Development  Goal  12.3:  "by  2030  halve  per  capita  global  food  waste  at  the  retail  and 
consumer  level,  and  reduce  food  losses  along  production  and  supply  chains  including  post-harvest 
losses".   

Facts and figures 
Indicator under development  

The Commission has started work on producing a consistent measurement of food waste levels in the 
EU.  This  is  quite  complex  as  food  waste  needs  to  be  measured  all  along  the  food  value  chain, 
including  on  the  farm,  in  processing  and  manufacture,  in  shops,  in  restaurants  and  canteens  and  in 
households. 

In  addition,  Eurostat  performed  a  voluntary  exercise  with  the  Member  States  for  the  reference  year 
2012:  on  a  voluntary  basis,  several  Member  States  provided  detailed  data  for  waste  codes  that  may 
contain  food  waste  as  a  plug-in  to  the  waste  statistics  data  collection  based  on  Regulation  (EC) 
2150/2002. Eight Member States sent data for the two years 2012 and 2014. On the basis of these data 
Eurostat produced a preliminary estimate for an indicator on food waste, which could only be made at 
EU-28 level. According to these calculations, food waste in the EU amounted to 81 million tonnes in 
2012 and 76 million tonnes in 2014, suggesting a 7% decrease from 161 to 149 kg per capita. 

This estimate is coherent with figures that the European Commission published for the reference year 
2012 on the basis of the FUSIONS study23:  87.6 million tonnes of food wasted in the EU-28 (with an 
error margin of +/- 14 million tonnes). Per capita data were 173 kg (error margin of +/- 27 kg). This 
estimate includes both edible food and inedible parts associated with food. 

At present there is no definition of food waste in EU regulatory frameworks. However food waste is 
understood  in  the  light  of  definitions  of  food  (from  General  Food  Law)  and  of  waste  (from  Waste 
Framework  Directive)  i.e.  as  food  which  has  been  discarded.  A  definition  of  food  waste  has  been 
proposed  by  the  European  Parliament  in  the  context  of  the  current  revision  of  Waste  Framework 
Directive24. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition: Amount of food waste generated per year. The indicator is being developed25.  

22 Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimising Waste Prevention Strategies (FUSIONS) project. 
23 Fusions: Estimates of European food waste levels 
24 Report on the proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (COM/2015/0595 final) 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A8-2017-
0034+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN . 
25 Obligation of regular monitoring in all EU Member States is included in the Commission Proposal amending 
Waste Framework Directive. Several Member States conduct monitoring on national level; however these efforts 
are  not  yet  harmonised  at  EU  level.  It  is  expected  that  the  amended  Directive  will  be  adopted  in  early  2018, 

17 

 
 
                                                            
 

Interpretation  of  the  indicator:  Currently  food  waste  monitoring  is  hampered  by  lack  of 
data,  baseline  for  individual  Member  States,  monitoring  obligations,  agreed  definition, 
methods and sources, and by limited information on developments at global level. Therefore 
the current calculations are purely indicative and may not be comparable neither numerically 
nor methodologically with the final indicator under development 

  Data  source:  New  reporting  obligations  for  Member  States  (in  the  Commission  Proposal 

amending the Waste Framework Directive - Art 9.3).  
Statistics  on  waste  gathered  for  the  purpose  of  reporting  under  the  Waste  Statistics 
Regulation26. Whereas Eurostat does not have data for a proper indicator,  there is long term 
work  ongoing  (see  above  section  latest  available  information)  which  may  allow  deriving 
proxy  indicators  until  a  fully  elaborated  system  is  in  place  (expected  to  be  set  up  by  the 
European Commission and with the first data becoming available for reference year 2020). 

which would allow adoption of the methodology in the following year and selecting 2020 as the first reporting 
year. 
26 Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics. 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                          
5) RECYCLING RATES 

5 a) Recycling rate of municipal waste 

Relevance for the circular economy 
The recycling of municipal waste indicates how waste from final consumers is used as a resource in 
the  circular  economy.  Municipal  waste  reflects  mainly  waste  generated  by  the  final  consumers  as  it 
includes waste from households and waste from other sources that is similar in nature and composition 
to  household  waste.  It  accounts  for  around  10%  of  total  waste  generated  in  the  EU  in  weight  (30% 
when  excluding  major  mineral  waste).  Because  of  its  heterogeneous  composition,  a  sound 
management of municipal waste is challenging. The recycling rate of municipal waste provides a good 
indication of the quality of the overall waste management system. 

This  indicator  supports  monitoring  progress  towards  the  50%  recycling  target  for  2020  set  in  the 
Waste  Framework  Directive  and  to  the  65%  recycling  target  for  2030  proposed  in  the  legislative 
proposal on waste. 

Facts and figures 

 Figure 5.1: Municipal waste in the EU, by treatment category 

Figure  5.1  shows  the  amount  of  waste  generated  at  EU  level  and  the  composition  by  treatment 
category (landfill, incineration, recycling, composting). During the period 1995-2016 the EU recycling 
rate of municipal waste has increased continuously to reach 45.6% of the total treated (equivalent to 
140 kg per capita). Since 2014 the EU recycling rate of municipal waste is higher than both the landfill 
rate and the incineration rates. 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 5.2: Recycling rate of municipal waste  

Note: 2016 data for Ireland, Greece, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Finland and United Kingdom not available and 
the following are used: Greece, Austria, Romania, Finland, United Kingdom (2015), Portugal (2014) and Ireland 
(2012). 2005 data for Croatia refer to 2007. 2010 data for Denmark refers to 2009. 

During the period 2005-2016 the EU recycling rate of municipal waste increased by 13.7 percentage 
points to reach 45.6% in 2016. 

2016 data show that the recycling rate of municipal waste varies a lot among Member States.  Austria, 
Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovenia recycled more than 50% of their municipal waste. 
Germany has already achieved the 65% recycling target set for 2030. An ongoing catch-up process can 
be observed, as the growth rate of recycling was the highest for those Member States, which started to 
introduce  recycling  practices  to  waste  management  more  recently.  The  methodology  for  calculating 
recycling rates is currently not harmonised across Member States (see below). 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source 

  Definition: The recycling rate is the share of recycled municipal waste in the total municipal 
waste generation. For areas not covered by a municipal waste collection scheme the amount of 
waste  generated  is  estimated.  The  Member  States  report  every  year  to  Eurostat  data  on  the 
generation and treatment of municipal waste.  
Interpretation of the indicator As regards comparability among Member States, it should be 
taken into account that countries measure the recycled quantities in different ways, for instance 
before  or  after  sorting  of  collected  waste,  which  has  implications  on  accuracy  and 
comparability. This issue is currently being addressed in the revised waste proposals. 

 

  Data source: Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste operations (env_wasmun) 

20 

 
 
 
 
5 b) Recycling rate of all waste excluding major mineral waste 

Relevance for the circular economy 

The recycling rate of all waste excluding major mineral waste indicates the extent to which key waste 
materials  are  reincorporated  in  the  economy.  It  adds  the  production  phase  to  the  final  consumption 
phase  reflected  by  municipal  waste  recycling  and  in  this  way  encompasses  the  trends  in  recycling 
waste arising from both consumption and production.  

Facts and figures 

Figure 5.3: Recycling rate of all waste excluding major mineral waste 

In 2014 EU recycling rate of waste (excluding major mineral waste) was 55%, increasing from 53% in 
2010. 

The  recycling  rate  varies  a  lot  among  Member  States:  from  Member  States  having  a  share  of  more 
than 70% (Belgium 78%, Slovenia 75% and the Netherlands 72%), to some others having a share of 
less than 20% (Estonia, Bulgaria and Greece). 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition: This indicator is defined as the share of waste that is recycled divided by all waste 
treated  in  a  country,  excluding  major  mineral  wastes  which  mainly  arise  from  mining  and 
construction. 
Interpretation of the indicator:  The indicator  corrects Waste Statistics Regulation  treatment 
data  with  data  on  imports  and  exports  and  as  such  takes  into  account  the  amount  of  waste 
collected in one country and recycled in another country. Its development indicates the overall 
progress in recycling performance. 

 

  Data  source:  Eurostat.  Management  of  waste  excluding  major  mineral  waste,  by  waste 
operations (env_wasoper) collected on the basis of the Regulation on waste statistics (EC) No. 
2150/2002, amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 849/2010. The information on waste 

21 

 
 
 
 
treatment  is  broken  down  by  type  of  treatment  and  by  waste  categories  (according  to  the 
European  Waste  Classification  for  statistical  purposes).  The  latter  allows  disclosing  and 
excluding major mineral waste.  
Comext database for imports and exports of waste materials from Foreign Trade Statistics.  

6. RECYCLING RATES FOR SPECIFIC WASTE STREAMS 

6 a) Recycling rate of overall packaging 

Relevance for the circular economy 

Packaging represents 9.3% of waste generated excluding major mineral waste in the EU. It generally 
consists  of  homogeneous  materials  which  are  particularly  suitable  for  recycling.  In  the  waste 
legislation,  specific  recycling  targets  are  set  for  packaging,  and  the  revised  legislative  proposal  on 
waste includes increased recycling targets for packaging materials by 2025 and 2030.  

Facts and figures 

Figure 6.1: Recycling rate of all packaging  

Note: In absence of 2010 data for Croatia, 2012 data are included.  In absence of 2015 data, 2014 data are shown 
for the following countries: Cyprus, Denmark, Malta and Romania. 

The  EU  recycled  65.7%  of  all  packaging  waste  in  2015,  showing  an  increase  by  more  than  10 
percentage points compared to 2008 (54.6%). 

In 2015 the ‘2008 recycling target’ of 55% recycled packaging waste was met by all Member States 
except  Hungary  and  Latvia;  Romania  and  Malta  had  not  reached  the  target  in  2014  (no  data  are 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
available for 2015). The Member States with a recycling rate higher than 70% are Belgium (81.5 %), 
Czech Republic (74.3%), the Netherlands and Sweden (both almost at 72%). Eleven Member States 
have a share higher than 65%.   

During  2005-2015  the  recycling  rate  of  packaging  waste  increased  in  most  Member  States,  in 
particular  in  Cyprus  and  Malta  (increase  by  more  than  400%)  which  had  the  lowest  levels  in  2005. 
Other  Member  States  increased  the  share  of  packaging  recycling  by  more  than  80%  (Bulgaria, 
Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia). 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

 

Definition: Packaging waste covers all the waste packaging materials from products used for 
the containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods, from raw materials 
to  processed  goods,  from  the  producer  to  the  user  or  the  consumer,  excluding  production 
residues. 
Interpretation of the indicator: The indicator is used to monitor progress towards the 55% 
packaging recycling target set for 2008 and the proposed 65% and 70% targets by 2025 and 
2030  respectively.  In  some  cases  differences  between  Member  States  are  due  to 
methodological  differences,  i.e.  the  possibility  to  report  output  of sorting  instead  of  input  to 
recycling if there are no significant losses. It should be taken into account that in most cases 
Member States assume that waste generated is equal to the amounts of packaging placed on 
the market in a given year in that country, which might be underreported and inflate recycling 
rates. 

  Data source: Eurostat. Packaging waste by waste operations and waste flow (env_waspac) on 
the basis of Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste, last 
amended by Regulation (EC) No 219/2009.  

23 

 
 
 
 
6 b) Recycling rate of plastic packaging 

Relevance for the circular economy 
Increasing plastic recycling is essential for the transition to a circular economy. The use of plastics in 
the EU has grown steadily, but less than 30% of plastics is collected for recycling and another third 
goes to landfill. Large quantities of plastics, including packaging, also end up in the oceans and are the 
principal cause of marine litter.  
Plastic  packaging  accounts  for  around  60%  of  plastic  waste  in  the  EU.  During  2005-2015  EU 
generation of plastic packing waste increased by almost 12% to reach 15.8 million tonnes, i.e. 31 kg 
per capita. 
In the revised legislative proposal on waste, the Commission has proposed an EU-wide target of 55% 
on  recycling plastic  packaging  (by  2025):  this  indicator  will  allow  monitoring  progress  towards  this 
target. 

Facts and figures 
Figure 6.2: Recycling rate of plastic packaging 

Note: in absence of the 2015 data, 2014 data are shown for Denmark, Malta, Romania and Cyprus. 

The EU recycling rates of plastic packaging increased from 24.7% to 40.3% between 2005 and 201527. 
Slovenia  is  the  Member  State  which  recycled  the  highest  percentage  of  plastic  packaging  waste 
(63.4%). It is followed by five countries with a share higher than 50%. Though the share varies a lot 
among Member States, it has increased in all countries during the decade 2005-2015. 

27 2005 data for EU-27; 2015 data for EU-28 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition:  The  recycling  rate  for  plastic  packaging  is  calculated  as  the  total  quantity  of 
recycled plastic packaging waste in the plastic packaging waste generated (both in mass unit). 
Interpretation  of  the  indicator.  The  same  considerations  apply  as  for  the  indicator  on 
recycling of all packaging waste. 

 

  Data  source:  Eurostat.   Packaging  waste  by  waste  operations  and  waste  flow  (env_waspac) 
on the basis of Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste, 
last amended by Regulation (EC) No 219/2009. 

25 

 
 
 
 
6 c) Recycling rate of wooden packaging 

Relevance for the circular economy 
In  a  circular  economy,  a  cascading  use  of  renewable  resources,  with  several  reuse  and  recycling 
cycles,  should  be  encouraged  where  appropriate.  In  the  case  of  wooden  packaging,  reuse  is  often  a 
suitable  solution.  Once  reuse  is  no  longer  possible,  recycling  is  the  option  that  best  supports  the 
circular economy.  

In the revised legislative proposal on waste, the Commission has proposed an EU-wide 2030 target of 
75% on preparation for reuse and recycling of wood packaging. 

Facts and figures 
Figure 6.3: Recycling rate of wooden packaging 

Note: In absence of 2015 data, 2014 data are included for: Cyprus, Denmark, Malta and Romania. 

Recycling rates of wooden packaging increased from 36.5% to 39.8% between 2005 and 2015 in EU. 
Sweden and Lithuania increased their recycling rate from 2% and 1.2% in 2005 to 21.5% and 24.8% 
in 2015, respectively. Sweden recycled more waste than it generated in 2010, which indicates that this 
Member  State  recycled  wooden  packaging  placed  on  the  market  by other  countries.  The data  reveal 
that  some  Member  States  are  less  advanced  in  terms  of  recycling  rate  of  wooden  packaging,  in 
particular those where this waste is subject to energy recovery. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition:  The  recycling  rate  of  wood  packaging  is  calculated  as  the  total  quantity  of 
recycled  wood  packaging  waste  divided  by  the  total  quantity  of  generated  wood  packaging 
waste (both in mass unit). 

 

Interpretation  of  the  indicator:  The  same  considerations  apply  as  for  the  indicator  on 
recycling of all packaging waste. 

  Data  source:  Eurostat  Packaging  waste  by  waste  operations  and  waste  flow  (env_waspac)  on  the  basis  of 
Directive  94/62/EC  of  20 December  1994  on  packaging  and  packaging  waste,  last  amended  by  Regulation 
(EC) No 219/2009. 

26 

 
 
 
6 d) Recycling rate of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) 

Relevance for the circular economy 
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)28, also known as e-waste, comprising items such as 
out of use computers, televisions, fridges and mobile phones, is one the fastest growing waste streams 
in the EU. Some 9 million tonnes were generated in the EU in 2012 and it is expected that this will 
grow to more than 12 million tonnes by 2020. WEEE poses on the one hand a risk to the environment 
(hazardous  components),  on  the  other  hand  it  has  a  high  potential  for  recycling  to  replace  raw 
materials  by  secondary  raw  materials,  such  as  precious  metals  and  other  highly  valuable  special 
materials. 

Compared  with  other  waste  streams,  e-waste  may  not  appear  to  be  significant  in  terms  of  weight. 
However, it provides a good example of the untapped potential to recover valuable raw materials. It is 
estimated  that up to 60 out of 118  chemical elements in the periodic table can be found in  complex 
electronics,  many  of  which  could  be  recovered  although  their  present  recycling  levels  are  very  low. 
Critical raw materials such as gallium, germanium, indium, and dysprosium are predominantly used in 
EEE and are a priority area of the EU action plan for the circular economy. 

The  indicator  provides  a  measure  of  the  WEEE  recycled  and  prepared  for  reuse  taking  into 
consideration the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE)29 that had been put on the market having a 
high potential for recycling to replace raw materials by secondary raw materials.  

Facts and figures 
Figure 6.4: Recycling rate of e-waste 

Note:  in  absence  of  2009  data,  the  following  are  shown:  2010  data  for  Latvia,  Italy,  United  Kingdom,  Czech 
Republic,  Ireland  and  Bulgaria.  In  absence  of  2015  data,  2014  data  are  shown  for  the  EU,  Malta,  Cyprus, 
Romania, Spain, Italy and Germany.  

28 WEEE means electrical or electronic equipment which is waste within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 
2008/98/EC,  including  all  components,  sub-assemblies  and  consumables  which  are  part  of  the  product  at  the 
time of discarding. 

29  EEE  means  equipment  which  is  dependent  on  electric  currents  or  electromagnetic  fields  in  order  to  work 
properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and designed 
for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1 000 volts for alternating current and 1 500 volts for direct current. 

27 

 
 
 
                                                            
The EU recycling rate of e-waste has increased from 28.8% in 2012 to 32.2% in 2014. 
The  levels  of  collection,  reuse  and  recycling  of  e-waste  vary  considerably  across  Member  States, 
indicating the potential to improve resource efficiency. Malta is being on one side of the scale with a 
e-waste of 11.5% in 2014, while Bulgaria was the best performing Member State with 96.5% (in 2015, 
compared to 68% in 2014). The high growth-rates were due to a campaign: many additional collection 
campaigns  were  organised  in  2015  to  provide  the  necessary  amount  of  WEEE  to  fulfil  the  national 
target for the collection of EEE. 
In  most  Member  States  recycling  of  e-waste  has  increased  during  the  period  2009-2015.  Some 
Member  States  show  big  increase  as  they  have  increased  not  only  recycling  but  also  the  amount  of 
waste collected. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 
  Definition: The indicator 'recycling rate of the e-waste' is calculated by multiplying the 'collection 
rate' set out in the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU with the 'reuse and recycling rate' set out in the 
same Directive; where: 

o 

o 

the 'collection rate' equals the volumes collected of WEEE in the reference year divided 
by the average quantity of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market in 
the previous three years;  
the 'reuse and recycling rate' is calculated by dividing the weight of WEEE that enters the 
recycling/preparing for re-use facility by the weight of all separately collected WEEE in 
accordance  with  Article  11(2)  of  the  WEEE  Directive  2012/19/EU,  considering  that  the 
total amount of collected WEEE is sent to treatment/recycling facilities. 

The  indicator  is  calculated  on  the  basis  of  data  reported  by  Member  States  to  Eurostat  on  EEE 
placed  on  the  market,  WEEE  separately  collected,  and  WEEE  recycled/prepared  for  reuse. 
Preparing for reuse and recycling are reported to Eurostat together.  
The 'reuse and recycling rate', as addressed in the Directive 2012/19/EU, measures the efficiency 
of  the  treatment  process  only  and  thus  does  not  match  with  this  indicator  'recycling  rate  of  e-
waste', which considers the entire chain from put on the market, collection and treatment.  
Interpretation  of  the  indicator:    The  indicator  is  commonly used  in  the  context  of  monitoring 
recycling  at  Member  State  level  (e.g.  in  the  Resource  Efficiency  Scoreboard).  Overall  weight-
based  figures  do  not  adequately  capture  recycling  rates  for  critical  raw  materials  which  are 
typically  present  in  e-waste  in  low  quantities  compared  to  the  total  weight  of  the  e-waste.  The 
indicator  also  does  not  capture  options  higher  in  the  waste  hierarchy  –  repair  /  reuse  / 
remanufacturing. 

 

  Data  source:  Eurostat.  Waste  electrical  and  electronic  equipment  (WEEE)  by  waste  operations 
(env_waselee). Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) which 
introduces  stepwise  higher  recycling  and  preparation  for  re-use  targets  that  apply  from  2012  to 
2018 (and beyond). 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
6 e) Recycling of biowaste  

Relevance for the circular economy 
The  indicator  relates  explicitly  to  bio-based  materials.  Biowaste  from  households  is  particularly 
important  as  it  is  often  mixed  with  other  waste  and  landfilled,  contributing  significantly  to  climate 
change.  
Separate  collection  of  biowaste  and  its  subsequent  recycling  (usually  in  the  form  of  composting  or 
digestion,  although  other  technologies  are  also  being  developed)  is  essential  to  achieving  high 
recycling  rates  of  municipal  waste  (currently  contributing  to  the  recycling  of  about  17%  of  total 
municipal wastes in mass terms). At the same time, it deserves special attention as currently a number 
of countries do not collect municipal biowaste separately and recycling levels of this important waste 
stream remain low.  

Facts and figures 
Figure 6.5: Recycling of biowaste per capita 

Note:  in  absence  of  2016  data,  the  following  are  used:  (2015)  Greece,  Austria,  Romania,  Finland  and  United 
Kingdom, (2014) Portugal and (2012) Ireland. 2005 data for Croatia and EU refers to 2007. 

Every EU citizen recycled on average 79 kg of municipal bio-waste in 2016, an increase of more than 
23% compared to 2007. Recycling biowaste per capita varies among Member States, ranging from less 
than 10 kg per capita in some Member States to more than 100 kg per capita in others. The recycling 
of  bio-waste  per  capita  has  increased  in  all  Member  States  during  2005-2016,  with  just  few 
exceptions. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition:  The  indicator  recycling  of  biowaste  is  indirectly  measured  as  the  ratio  of 

composted/digested municipal waste (in kg) over the total population.  

 

Interpretation  of  the  indicator:  Although  it  is  desirable  to  know  the  rate  of  municipal 
biowaste recycling, there is no reliable data on waste generation for this fraction as part of the 

29 

 
 
 
 
biowaste ends in the mixed municipal waste. Therefore, the amounts of biowaste composted 
per capita will be monitored, which gives appropriate indication for the progress achieved by 
Member States along time and allows for comparability amongst them.  

Note  that  comparability  can  be  weakened  by  the  fact  that  most  countries  only  count  as 
recycling  composting  of  separately  collected  waste,  whereas  others  include  also  organic 
material recovered as a result of mechanical biological treatment. 

  Data source: Eurostat. Municipal waste by waste operations (env_wasmun).  

6 f) Recovery rate of construction and demolition waste 

Relevance for the circular economy 

Construction  and  demolition  is  the  single  biggest  source  of  waste  in  the  Europe:  construction 
contributed  to  33.5%  of  the  total  waste  in  the  EU-28  in  2014  (with  871  million  tonnes).  Important 
factors  for  feeding  these  materials  back  into  the  economy  and  preserving  their  value  as  much  as 
possible are the design of building materials and constructions, selective demolition of constructions, 
allowing for a separation of the recoverable fractions and the hazardous materials, as well as quality 
assurance schemes to build up trust in recycled materials. 

Most materials contained in construction and demolition waste can be easily recycled; therefore, this 
waste stream constitutes a valuable source of secondary raw materials. It is covered by a mandatory 
recovery  target  (70%  by  2020)  under  the  Waste  Framework  Directive  (2008/98/EC).  So  far  the 
indicator is based on data collected under Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics. 

Facts and figures 
Figure 6.6: Recovery rate of construction and demolition waste  

In  2014  the  EU  recovered  around  88%  of  overall  construction  and  demolition  waste,  showing  an 
important increase of 10 percentage points since 2010.  This figure includes backfilling (see below).   
The  recovery  rate  of  construction  and  demolition  waste  was  higher  than  90%  in  17  Member  States. 
However, there is a wide variation among Member States, with eleven Member States having a share 
of  95%  or  more  and  two  Member  States  with  a  share  of  40%  or  less.  In  2014  only  seven  Member 

30 

 
 
 
 
States had not reached the 2020 target of 70% recovery of construction and demolition waste.  

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition: The recovery rate of construction and demolition waste is the ratio of construction 
and  demolition  waste  which  is  prepared  for  re-use, recycled  or  subject  to  material  recovery, 
including  through  backfilling  operations,  divided  by  the  construction  and  demolition  waste 
collected and treated.  
The  indicator  covers  the  waste  category  'Mineral  waste  from  construction  and  demolition' 
(EWC-Stat 12.1). Only non-hazardous waste is taken into account. 
Interpretation of the indicator: Further efforts are needed to improve the quality of the data 
for  this  indicator,  in  particular  as  regards  waste  generation.  In  addition,  the  most  valuable 
fractions within construction and demolition (e.g. metals, plastics, glass, which contain scarce 
materials or require high amounts of energy to be produced) represent only a small percentage 
of construction and demolition waste; therefore high reuse or recovery rates lead to significant 
sustainability gains, which would not be duly reflected in the overall recovery statistics. 

 

The indicator recovery rate includes backfilling30. An indicator excluding backfilling would be 
a recycling rate. Backfilling is lower in the waste hierarchy than recycling, but currently there 
is no harmonised application of the definition of backfilling in the Waste Framework Directive 
so the dividing line between recycling and backfilling differs among Member States.31 Once 
there  is  a  more  uniform  application  of  this  distinction,  the  indicator  will  focus  only  on 
recycling of construction and demolition waste.  

  Data  source:  Eurostat.  Treatment  of  waste  by  waste  category,  hazardousness  and  waste 
operations (env_wastrt) collected on the basis of the Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste 
statistics. 

30 According to the Commission Decision 2011/753/EU backfilling is defined as follows: 
“backfilling' means a recovery operation where suitable waste is used for reclamation purposes in excavated 
areas or for engineering purposes in landscaping and where the waste is a substitute for non-waste materials”. 
31 This could happen for instance in cases where constructions materials are reprocessed to comply with certain 
specifications and are used in building or infrastructure foundation. 

31 

 
 
 
                                                            
7. CONTRIBUTION OF RECYCLED MATERIALS TO RAW MATERIALS DEMAND 

The use of secondary raw materials is a key part of the circular economy, and it is important to be able 
to  measure  it.  For  this  purpose,  two  separate  indicators  have  been  developed,  based  on  different 
dataset. The first one (indicator 7a) focusses on a subset of specific materials, whereas the second one 
(indicator 7b) gives an overall view of the use of secondary raw materials in the economy. 

7 a) End-of-life recycling input rates  

Relevance for the circular economy 
The  use  of  secondary  raw  materials  contributes  to  developing  a  solid  circular  economy.  For  most 
materials, the share of secondary raw materials is far below the economy’s demand for materials, even 
though overall recycling rates for certain materials are relatively high.  

In  contrast  to  the  indicators  of  the  monitoring  framework  on  waste  management,  which  focus  on 
collection or recycling rates of certain waste streams, this indicator measures recycling's contribution 
to materials demand per type of material for a selected subset of materials. In this sense this indicator 
provides complementary information on the recycling flow in the Sankey diagram on materials flows 
in  the  circular  economy,  i.e.  a  disaggregation  per  material  of  recycling's  contribution  to  materials 
demand.  

Facts and figures  

Figure 7.1: End-of-life recycling input rates (EOL-RIR) in the EU-2832, 33  

32 Elements in white indicate that no data or estimates are available from the 2017 EU criticality assessment. 
33 Source: JRC elaboration based on the EC list of Critical Raw Materials (2017). 

32 

 
 
 
                                                            
The share of secondary raw materials in total materials demand is higher than 50% for only a very 
limited  number  of  raw  materials.  For  lead  it  is  75%,  mostly  because  tightly  regulated  closed-loop 
recycling systems exist for lead batteries. The high rates for copper and silver can be explained by the 
materials' high intrinsic economic value.  

For a number of bulk materials (e.g. certain metals) secondary raw materials contribute between 30% 
and 40% of total materials demand. Even though many of these materials have end-of-life recycling 
rates  above  50%,  mostly  because  they  are  used  in  sufficiently  large  amounts  in  easily  recoverable 
applications (e.g. steel in automobiles), their end-of-life recycling input rates are much lower because 
demand for these materials is higher than what can be provided through recycling. 

For  most  of  the  materials  and  for  almost  all  critical  raw  materials  however  the  contribution  of 
recycled materials to raw materials demand is small to negligible. This is because  their recycling is 
not economically viable, suitable technologies available for recycling are insufficiently developed, or 
because those materials are embodied in products stocked in use for long time periods (i.e., buildings 
or other infrastructure). In some cases this can also be explained because the demand is growing very 
fast, e.g. for their use in low-carbon technologies, batteries or electric or electronic devices. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition: The ‘end-of-life recycling input rate’ (EOL-RIR) measures how much of the total 

material input into the production system comes from recycling of "old scrap"34.  

 

Interpretation of the indicator: 

o  Given the capital-intensity of certain recycling technologies and consequently the need to 
rely  on  economies  of  scale  at  EU  level,  it  would  not  be  meaningful  for  all  materials  to 
calculate the EOL-RIR data at Member State level.  

o 

It  is  important  to  note  that  the  EOL-RIR  only  takes  into  account  "old  scrap",  i.e.  scrap 
from  end-of-life  products.  It  does  not  take  into  account  scrap  that  originates  from 
manufacturing  processes  ("new  scrap"),  which  is  sometimes  used  in  closed-loop 
industrial symbiosis processes. 

o  The  EOL-RIR  is  determined  by  several  factors.  The  first  one  is  the  demand  for  raw 
materials, which is increasing for almost all materials. The second one is the amount of 
materials that are available to be recycled. As some materials are embedded in long-life 
capital goods, they will only be available for recycling in the medium to long term. The 
indicator  should  also  not  be  seen  as  an  indicator  of  recycling's  potential  contribution  to 
materials demand in the future.  

o  Given the lack of data for certain steps of the value chain, the indicator is partly based on 
estimates.  All  estimates  have  been  peer-reviewed  by  the  JRC  and  a  dedicated  expert 
group. 

Data  source:  The  EOL-RIR  is  part  of  the  methodology  to  make  up  the  list  of  critical  raw 
materials to the EU, an exercise that is carried out by the Commission every 3 years35. Data 
come  from  the  EC  Material  System  Analysis  Study36  and  the  EC  Critical  Raw  Materials 
assessment. 

34 The methodology is available in http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/cei_srm010_esmsip2.htm  
Field 4.1 Data description.  
35 Data are published in the European Commission's Raw Materials Information System 
36 http://rmis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/?page=msa-methodology-548216  

33 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
7 b) Circular material use rate 

Relevance for the circular economy 
The  circular  economy  aims  at  increasing  the  amount  of  material  recycled  and  fed  back  into  the 
economy,  therefore  reducing  the  generation  of  waste  and  limiting  the  extraction  of  primary  raw 
materials.  The  circular  material  use  rate  (CMU)  measures  the  contribution  of  recycled  materials  to 
overall materials demand.  

The  CMU  indicator  is  a  ratio  of  recycled  waste  material  over  the  overall  material  demand 
(operationalised by domestic material consumption plus the amount of recovered waste). It is therefore 
relevant for assessing the circularity of the economy. The CMU indicator also has a clear connection 
with  the  Sankey  diagram  of  material  flows,  in  particular  the  ratio  between  the  closing  loop  and  the 
materials used in the economy. 

The  CMU  indicator  complements  the  indicator  7a  End-of-life  recycling  input  rate:  where  the  latter 
focuses on specific raw materials, the former measures material flows for the whole economy and for 
four big groupings of materials. The CMU indicator allows comparing the EU and individual Member 
States, as well as analysing progress along time.  

Facts and figures  
According  to  estimates,  recycled  materials  have  contributed  to  11.4%  of  EU  materials  demand  in 
2014. There has been a steady improvement since 2004 when the rate stood at 8.3%, with a dipping 
point in 2011. This was due to a peak in material consumption whilst recovered waste amounts were 
more or less stable.  

Figure 7.2: Circular material use rate in the EU by materials category  

Note:  CMU  estimates  broken  down  by  material  flow  for  the  period  before  2010  are  not  presently  possible 
because of limited availability of the necessary breakdowns of waste operations data. 

It  is  possible  to  analyse  the  EU  evolution  between  2010  and  2014,  broken  down  by  four  broad 
categories  of  materials  as  follows:  biomass,  metal  ores,  non-metallic  minerals  and  fossil  fuels. 
Between 2010 and 2014 the CMU rate increased most notably for non-metallic minerals, passing from 
13.9% to 15.2%, and also for fossil energy materials from a much lower baseline of 2.1% to 2.5%. The 

34 

 
 
 
very important category of metal ores exhibited some volatility passing from 28.0% in 2010 to 30.4% 
in 2012 and 28.4% in 2014, but showing overall a positive trend. Finally, the category of biomass saw 
a negative evolution passing from 8.9% to 8.1% over the period 2010-2014. 

Member States present a range of values between 26.7% and 1.4%. Highest values are recorded in the 
Netherlands (26.7%), Italy (18.5%) and France (17.8%). Values are lowest in Greece (1.4%), Romania 
(1.7%) and Ireland (1.9%). 

Figure 7.3: Circular material use rate

Member States with very high CMU rates have either high levels of waste recycling or low levels of 
domestic  material  consumption  (DMC)  or  both.  The  Netherlands  has  a  high  percentage  of  waste 
amounts  recycled,  that  being  26.7%  (i.e.  more  than  twice  the  EU28  average),  in  particular  mineral 
waste  from  construction  and  demolition  and  animal  and  vegetal  wastes,  combined  with  rather  low 
DMC (circa 10.4 tonnes per capita). Italy has an amount of waste recycled close to the EU average but 
an extremely low DMC (6.9 tonnes per capita). France waste recovery is around 50% higher than the 
EU28 average, and has more exports than imports, and a DMC value below the EU average (around 
11.7 tonnes per capita).  

Member  States  with  very  low  CMU  rates  have  extremely  low  levels  of  waste  recovery.  This  is  the 
main reason for their low values of the CMU rate.  

Over the period between years 2010-2014 most Member States improved their CMU as it was the case 
for  the  whole  EU,  which  increased  the  CMU  rate  by  roughly  one  percentage  point.  Some  Member 
States where CMU decreased significantly stand out, namely Spain, Luxembourg and Finland. In all 
three cases reduced amounts of recovered mineral wastes determined these negative trends, reflecting 
a reduction in mining or construction activity. In addition, Luxembourg recovered less ferrous waste 
which also reduced the amounts of recovered combustion waste, reflecting a reduction in activity of 
the Luxembourgish construction of infrastructure. In Finland also reduced amounts of recovered wood 
wastes contributed to the trend in CMU.  

35 

 
 
 
Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition: The CMU rate aims to measure the ratio of the amount of secondary raw materials 

(U) to the overall material consumption (DMC + U): 
                                             CMU  =    U / (DMC + U) 
The amount of secondary raw materials (U) is approximated by the amount of waste recycled 
(waste treated in domestic recovery plants, minus imported waste destined for recovery, plus 
exported waste destined for recovery abroad).  

The  list  of  imports  and  exports  waste  codes  used  for  the  indicator  are  found  here: 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/8105938/8465062/cei_srm030_esmsip_CN-codes.pdf  
Waste  used  for  energy  recovery  is  not  included  in  the  numerator.  The  overall  material 
consumption is approximated by the domestic material consumption (DMC) plus the amount 
of recovered waste (adjusted for imports and exports). The indicator has a possible range of 
values between 0 and 1, reported in percent. The indicator is calculated for all materials in the 
economy and also broken down by four broad groups of materials: biomass, metal ores, non-
metallic minerals and fossil fuels (breakdown only available for the EU). 

 

Interpretation:  The  CMU  rate  indicates  the  amount  of  domestically  collected  waste  – 
destined for material recovery in domestic treatment plants as well as abroad – and fed back 
into the economy thus saving extraction of primary raw materials. A higher rate means more 
circular (secondary) materials in the economy in relation to the overall material use. A higher 
amount  of  secondary  materials  substituting  for  primary  raw  materials  avoids  extraction  of 
primary material. 

  Data  source:  Eurostat.  The  numerator  uses  Treatment  of  waste  by  waste  category, 
hazardousness  and  waste  operations  (env_wastrt)  collected  under  Regulation  (EC) 
No 2150/2002, including waste amounts treated in recovery plants other than energy recovery 
and  without  backfilling  (waste  operation  code:  RCV_O).  The  amounts  of  waste  treated  in 
domestic  recovery  operations  are  corrected  by  net  exports  of  waste  destined  for  recycling 
sourced from Comext database. Waste statistics are available every second year but Eurostat 
interpolates  the  data  to  produce  annual  CMU  estimates.  The  denominator  uses  domestic 
material consumption from the economy-wide material flow accounts (env_ac_mfa) collected 
under Regulation (EU) 691/2011 on European economic-environmental accounts.  

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. TRADE IN RECYCLABLE RAW MATERIALS  

Relevance for the circular economy 
Efficient production of secondary raw materials through the processing of waste can be supported by a 
dynamic internal market and the optimal use of EU recycling capacities. Therefore it is useful to keep 
an overview of the trans-border movements of waste, both crossing EU borders and intra-EU trade.  
Many  waste  streams  are  an  important  source  of  raw  materials.  Therefore,  in  order  to  provide  an 
accurate picture of the European raw materials sector and the provenance of secondary materials used 
by EU industries, it is fundamental to keep track of the movements of raw materials originating from 
waste, i.e. secondary raw materials, crossing European boundaries both as imports and exports, as well 
as of intra-EU trade. 

Facts and figures 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure  8.1:  Trade  of  selected  waste:  ‘Iron  and  steel’,  ‘Copper,  aluminium  and  nickel’,  ‘Precious 
metals’, ‘Paper and cardboard’, ‘Plastics’, and ‘Total’ trade of these waste [1].  

Figure  8.1  shows  the  traded  flows  of  specific  waste  streams  in  the  period  2004-2016.  In  2016,  the 
total net trades of these waste was 30 million tonnes, more than twice the net amount traded in 2004.  

About 18 million tonnes of  ‘iron and steel’ waste were exported by the EU to the rest of the world 
(2016  data),  while  about  3  million  tonnes  were  imported  and  about  27  million  tonnes  were  traded 
among  Member  States.  Between  2004  and  2016  EU  exports  of  iron  and  steel  waste  increased  by 
almost 50%, while imports decreased by about 60%. 

From 2004 to 2016, net exports of ‘paper and cardboard’ waste grew by more than 70%. The amount 
of paper and cardboard waste exported roughly equals the amount trade between Member States. 

Net exports of ‘copper, aluminium and nickel’ waste increased by more than 60%.  

[1]

 Source: JRC elaboration based on Eurostat data (Comext). 

38 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
Among  the  waste  types  considered  in  Figure  8.1,  during  the  period  2004-2016  the  trade  of  plastic 
waste was the only one characterised by exports to non-EU countries always higher than the amount 
traded  within  the  EU.  In  2016,  net  exports  of  plastic  waste  were  more  than  3  million  tonnes,  more 
than double compared to the 2004.  

Since  2008  the  EU  is  a  net  importer  of  ‘precious  metals’  waste  (i.e.  imports  larger  than  exports). 
From 2009, imports of ‘precious metals’ waste grew sensibly (mainly due to an increased amount of 
silver waste and scraps traded) and, in particular, from 2015 to 2016, imports doubled.  

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition: Volumes of selected wastes and by products that are shipped across intra- and 

extra EU borders. The imports and exports codes determining the scope of waste selected for 
the indicator are found here: 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/8105938/8465062/cei_srm020_esmsip_CN-codes.pdf .  

 

Interpretation: The indicator provides an accurate picture on the trade flows of a number of 
waste streams that could be recycled into secondary raw materials. It is noted though that this 
indicator  only  covers  the  legal  exports  of  waste  materials.  Due  to  their  nature,  illegal  waste 
shipments are not tracked in official reporting systems. There is however extensive evidence 
that  the  amount  of  illegally  exported  waste  is  significant,  and,  for  some  categories  of  waste 
such as end-of-life vehicles or WEEE, perhaps even higher than the amount of legal exports. 
  Data  source:  Eurostat.  Comext  database  for  imports  and  exports  from  Foreign  Trade 

Statistics.   

39 

 
 
 
 
 
9.  PRIVATE  INVESTMENT,  JOBS  AND  GROSS  VALUE  ADDED  RELATED  TO 
CIRCULAR ECONOMY SECTORS 

Relevance 
Innovation and investments (on eco-design, on secondary raw materials, on recycling processes and on 
industrial symbiosis) are a key element of the transition to a circular economy.  

The  circular  economy  can  make  a  significant  contribution  to  the  creation  of  jobs  and  economic 
growth. Looking at jobs and growth of relevant sectors indicates whether the transition to a circular 
economy  is  delivering  the  expected  results.  Sectors  that  are  closely  related  to  the  circular  economy 
such  as  the  recycling,  repair  and  reuse,  are  particularly  job  intensive,  and  contribute  to  local 
employment.  
It is important to note that the sectors analysed here only represent a subset of a much wider economic 
impact of the circular economy. However, the impact of the circular economy in other sectors is more 
diffuse, and difficult to isolate. Recycling as well as repair and reuse are considered good proxies for 
the mainstreaming of the circular economy in other sectors. Annex 3 includes the list of NACE codes 
used for defining the circular economy sectors. 

9 a) Gross investment in tangible goods related to circular economy sectors 

Facts and figures 

Figure 9.1. Gross investment in tangible goods related to circular economy sectors  

(as % of GDP at current prices) 

Note: Confidential or not reliable data for Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta. 

40 

 
 
 
 
 
In  absence  of  2008  data  the  following  are  shown:  Belgium,  France  the  Netherlands  and  Slovenia  (2009), 
Bulgaria and Croatia (2010), Greece (2011). United Kingdom only 2015 available. In absence of 2015 data the 
following are shown: Estonia and Slovenia (2011). 

In 2014 the private investments in circular economy sectors in the EU were estimated to be around 15 
billion Euro (i.e. 0.1% GDP), an increase by 3% compared 2013. 

The share of private investment in the circular economy sectors differ a lot among the Member States, 
ranging  from 0.04% in Greece to 0.27% in Latvia. After Latvia, the highest share of investments in 
circular economy sectors compared to GDP are found in Estonia (0.25%) and Slovakia (0.21%). Seven 
Member  States  (Belgium,  Croatia,  the  United  Kingdom,  Bulgaria,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Romania) 
have a share between 0.15% and 0.2%.  

The  Member  States  which  have  increased  private  investment  in  circular  economy  the  most  over  the 
period 2008-2015 are Hungary (+40%), France (+33%) and Germany (+26%), in absolute terms. The 
share of the investments compared to GDP has increased by 40% in Hungary. During this period the 
investments were cut considerably in most Member States. 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 
  Definition:  The  indicator  measures  gross  investment  in  tangible  goods  in  the  recycling  sector; 
repair  and  reuse  sector.  Gross  investment  in  tangible  goods  is  defined  as  investment  during  the 
reference year in all tangible goods. Included are new and existing tangible capital goods, whether 
bought from third parties or produced for own use (i.e. capitalised production of tangible capital 
goods), having a useful life of more than one year including non-produced tangible goods such as 
land.  Investments  in  intangible  and  financial  assets  are  excluded.  Repair  and  reuse  sector  and 
rental  and  leasing  sector  are  defined  and  approximated  in  terms  of  economic  activities  in  the 
NACE classification. The denominator is expressed as Gross Domestic Product at market prices of 
the current year. 
Interpretation: Figure 9.1 reports gross investments as a percentage of GDP to allow comparing 
data in time and across Member States. 

 

  Source:  Eurostat.  Structural  business  statistics  (SBS).  Annual  detailed  enterprise  statistics  for 
industry  (NACE  Rev.  2,  B-E)  (sbs_na_ind_r2),  Annual  detailed  enterprise  statistics  for  trade 
(NACE Rev. 2 G) (sbs_na_dt_r2), Annual detailed enterprise statistics for services (NACE Rev. 2 
H-N  and  S95)  (sbs_na_1a_se_r2),  collected  under  the  Regulation  on  Structural  Business 
Statistics37.  For  the  denominator  GDP  and  main  components  (output,  expenditure  and  income) 
(nama_10_gdp)  

37 Commission Regulation (EU) No 446/2014 of 2 May 2014 amending Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  concerning  structural  business  statistics,  and  Commission  Regulations  (EC)  No 
251/2009  and  (EU)  No 275/2010,  as  regards  the  series  of  data  to  be  produced  and  the  criteria  for  evaluation  of  the 
quality of structural business statistics Text with EEA relevance 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
9 b) Number of persons employed in the circular economy sectors 

Facts and figures 
Figure 9.2: Number of persons employed in the circular economy sectors  
(as % of total employment) 

Note: Confidential or not reliable data for Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta 
In absence of 2008 data, 2009 data are shown for Belgium, 2010 data for France; 2011 data for Greece; 2012 for 
EU. In absence of 2015 data, 2014 data are shown for EU. 

In 2014 there were almost 3.9 million persons employed in circular economy sectors in the EU (i.e. 
1.7% of all the employed persons). This is a growth of around 2% compared to 2012. Employment in 
the circular economy has increased in most Member States, both in absolute and relative terms, during 
the period 2008-2015, despite the financial and economic crises. 
Lithuania  and  Latvia  have  the  highest  share,  with  more  than  2.5%  of  employed  persons  in  circular 
economy.  However,  in  absolute  terms,  Germany  has  the  highest  number  of  persons  employed  in 
circular  economy  (more  than  616  000  persons),  followed  by  Italy  and  the  United  Kingdom  (around 
500 000 persons each one).  
According  to  the  available  data,  employment  in  circular  economy  sectors  increased  in  particular  in 
Slovakia (by 53%, as share of the total persons employed), Spain and Germany (by around 25% both). 

42 

 
 
 
 
Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition: Number of persons employed is defined as the total number of persons who work in 
the observation unit, i.e. the firm (inclusive of working proprietors, partners working regularly in 
the unit and unpaid family workers), as well as persons who work outside the unit who belong to it 
and are paid by it (e.g. sales representatives, delivery personnel, repair and maintenance teams). It 
excludes  manpower  supplied  to  the  unit  by  other  enterprises,  persons  carrying  out  repair  and 
maintenance  work  in  the  enquiry  unit  on  behalf  of  other  enterprises,  as  well  as  those  on 
compulsory military service. Same scope of repair and reuse sector as for indicator 9a. 
Interpretation:  The  indicator  is  expressed  as  percentage  of  overall  employment,  to  allow 
comparing Member States. 

 

  Data  source:  Eurostat.  Structural  business  statistics  (SBS).  Annual  detailed  enterprise  statistics 
for industry (NACE Rev.  2, B-E) (sbs_na_ind_r2), Annual detailed enterprise statistics for trade 
(NACE Rev. 2 G) (sbs_na_dt_r2), Annual detailed enterprise statistics for services (NACE Rev. 2 
H-N  and  S95)  (sbs_na_1a_se_r2),  collected  under  the  Regulation  on  Structural  Business 
Statistics38.  For  the  denominator:  Population  and  employment  (nama_10_pe)  (national  accounts 
employment estimates). 

38 Commission Regulation (EU) No 446/2014 of 2 May 2014 amending Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  concerning  structural  business  statistics,  and  Commission  Regulations  (EC)  No 
251/2009  and  (EU)  No 275/2010,  as  regards  the  series  of  data  to  be  produced  and  the  criteria  for  evaluation  of  the 
quality of structural business statistics Text with EEA relevance 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
9 c) Gross value added at factor cost in the circular economy sectors 

Facts and figures 

Figure 9.3: Gross value added at factor cost in the circular economy sectors  

(as % of GDP at current prices) 

Note: Confidential or not reliable data for Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta.  
In absence of 2008 data, 2009 data are shown for Belgium, France and the Netherlands 2010 data are shown for 
Croatia; 2011 data are shown for Germany and Greece; 2012 for the EU. In absence of 2015 data, 2014 data are 
shown for the EU; 2011 data are shown for Estonia.  

In 2014 the circular economy sectors generated a gross value added of around 141 billion EUR in the 
EU  (i.e.  around  1%  of  the  overall  GDP  in  the  EU).  The  gross  added  value  in  the  circular  economy 
sectors  increased  by  around  6%  in  the EU  during  2012-2014,  and  it  slightly  increased  (by 2%)  as  a 
share of the EU GDP. 

The  gross  added  value  (as  a  share  of  GDP)  in  the  circular  economy  sectors  differs  a  lot  among  the 
Member States. According to the latest available figures Slovenia has the highest share of gross added 
value in circular economy sectors, being almost 1.3% and it is followed by Croatia with 1.24% and the 
United Kingdom with 1.19%  

Over 2008-2015 the gross added value in circular economy sectors has increased by 46% in the United 
Kingdom, and by almost 30% in Austria.. Slovenia has the highest increase of the gross added value in 
circular economy sectors (as GDP share) being more than 19%, and it is followed by Finland, Austria 
and the United Kingdom (increase of the share by more than 10%). 

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

  Definition:  Value  added  at  factor  costs  is  the  gross  income  from  operating  activities  after 
adjusting  for  operating  subsidies  and  indirect  taxes.  It  can  be  calculated  as  the  sum  of 

44 

 
 
 
turnover, capitalized production, other operating income, increases minus decreases of stocks, 
and deducting the following items: purchases of goods and services, other taxes on products 
which are linked to turnover but not deductible, duties and taxes linked to production. Value 
adjustments (such as depreciation) are not subtracted. Same scope of repair and reuse sector as 
for indicator 9a.  
Interpretation:  Figure  9.3  presents  gross  value  added  as  percentage  of  GDP  as  to  allow 
comparison of the Member States. 

 

  Data  source:  Eurostat.  Structural  business  statistics  (SBS).  Annual  detailed  enterprise 
statistics  for  industry  (NACE  Rev.  2,  B-E)  (sbs_na_ind_r2),  Annual  detailed  enterprise 
statistics for trade (NACE Rev. 2 G) (sbs_na_dt_r2), Annual detailed enterprise statistics for 
services (NACE Rev. 2 H-N and S95) (sbs_na_1a_se_r2), collected under the Regulation on 
Structural  Business  Statistics39.  For  the  denominator  GDP  and  main  components  (output, 
expenditure and income) (nama_10_gdp)  

39 Commission Regulation (EU) No 446/2014 of 2 May 2014 amending Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  concerning  structural  business  statistics,  and  Commission  Regulations  (EC)  No 
251/2009  and  (EU)  No 275/2010,  as  regards  the  series  of  data  to  be  produced  and  the  criteria  for  evaluation  of  the 
quality of structural business statistics Text with EEA relevance 

45 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
10) NUMBER OF PATENTS RELATED TO RECYCLING AND SECONDARY RAW 
MATERIALS 

Relevance for the circular economy 

Innovation plays a key role in the transition towards a circular economy, creating new technologies, 
processes,  services  and  business  models.  The  development  of  innovative  technologies  for  waste 
management and recycling will support the competitiveness of the EU industry. 

Patent  statistics  are  a  proxy  to  assess  technological  progress  and  innovation.  The  number  of  patent 
applications is also used as an indicator in the Raw Materials Scoreboard 2016. 

Facts and figures  

Figure 10.1: Patent families related to recycling and secondary raw materials in the EU between 2000 and 
2013  

(number, share of global patents) 

In the EU, the total number of patents related to recycling and secondary raw materials has increased 
from  270  to  364  (+  35%)  between  2000  and  2013.  (Fig.  10.1).  The  EU  share  of  the  global  patents 
varied between 8.3% and 10.4% during this period, with a peak in 2005. 

Figure  10.2:  Number  of  patent  families  in  recycling  and  secondary  raw  materials  per  Member  State, 
normalised per population, in 2000 and 2013 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In  the  EU  in  2013,  the  largest  number  of  patents  per  million  inhabitants  came  from  Luxembourg, 
followed by Finland, Latvia, Denmark, Belgium, Austria and Germany (Fig. 10.2). Between 2000 and 
2013 the number of patents per million inhabitants increased in all Member States, with the exception 
of Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania and Slovakia. 

Figure  10.3:  Number  of  patent  families  for  12  selected  technologies  relevant  to  recycling  and  secondary 
raw materials in the EU, and EU share of global patent output 

Considering 12 selected technologies of particular relevance (Fig. 10.3), it can be seen that in 2013, 
the biggest number of patents registered by European applicants concerned plastic recycling (about 42 
inventions),  or  44%  of  the  global  total,  followed  by  paper  recycling  (about  19  inventions)  and  bio-
organic fraction processing (about 18 inventions). Additionally, about one fourth of all global patents 
for  paper  recycling  and  rubber  waste  recycling  technologies  were  registered  by  EU  applicants.  The 
respective EU share for the recycling of plastics was 18% (Fig. 10.3). In 2013, the lowest EU share of 
patents  among  the  selected  technologies  was  for  metal  recycling  and  bio-organic  processing 

47 

 
 
 
 
(production of fertilisers from the organic fraction of waste or refuse); only 2.5% of the global number 
of patents associated with recycling of metals and of the ones associated with bio-organic processing 
was registered by applicants located in EU.  

Indicator description (definition, interpretation and data source) 

Definition: The term 'patents' refers to patent families, which include all documents relevant 
to  a  distinct  invention  (e.g.  applications  to  multiple  authorities),  thus  preventing  multiple 
counting. A fraction of the family is allocated to each applicant and relevant technology. The 
attribution  of  patents  to  recycling  and  secondary  raw  materials  was  done  using  the  relevant 
codes in the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)40.  

This indicator shows information about: 

  Variation  of  the  total  number  of  patent  families  from  2000  to  2013  in  the  EU  for  all 

categories associated to recycling and secondary raw materials; 

  Number of patent families normalised by Member States' population. Snapshots in 2000 

and 2013; 

  The number of patent families in 2013 for 12 selected technologies relevant to recycling 
of  different  materials,  waste  collection,  transportation,  storage,  dismantling  and  waste 
processing.  

 

Interpretation of the indicator: Whereas the indicator provides insight into the most relevant 
innovative  recycling  technologies,  it  does  not  cover  all  technologies  related  to  waste 
management, nor other services and business models of the circular economy. It also needs to 
be noted that not all relevant innovations are or can be patented. 

  Data source: JRC assessment of PATSTAT data. Data were extracted from the Spring 2017 
PATSTAT edition, the Worldwide Patent Statistical Database created and maintained by the 
European Patent Office (EPO) and processed using a JRC in-house methodology41. There is a 
3.5-year delay in the data processing cycle,  meaning  that the latest year for which  complete 
data  is  available  presently  is  2013.  The  recycling  technologies  are  selected  from  the  section 
dedicated to waste management (i.e. Y02W) of the CPC scheme. The CPC codes used in this 
indicator are shown in Annex 4. 

40 http://www.cooperativepatentclassification.org//index.html  
41 Fiorini A; Georgakaki A; Pasimeni F; Tzimas E. Monitoring R&I in Low-Carbon Energy Technologies. EUR 
28446 EN. doi: 10.2760/447418  

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Annexes 

Annex 1 - Member States acronyms 

Annex 2 - Methodology for Sankey diagram on materials flows 

Annex 3 - List of NACE codes for the indicator "Private investments, jobs and gross value added 
related to circular economy sectors" 

Annex 4 - List of CPC codes for the indicator "Number of patents related to recycling and secondary 
raw materials 

Annex 5 - Key characteristics of circular economy indicators  

49 

 
 
 
 
Annex 1 – Member States acronyms  

AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 
UK 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Germany 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Greece 
Spain 
Finland 
France 
Croatia 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Latvia 
Malta 
The Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Sweden 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
United Kingdom 

50 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex 2 – Methodology for Sankey diagram on materials flows42 

The Sankey diagrams for material flows are based on the law of conservation of mass, which means 
that  flows  for  which  there  are  no  reported  Eurostat  data  are  modelled  based  on  recent  scientific 
publications to compensate differences in reported input and output flows. As a consequence for some 
material flows there are considerable uncertainties in the results presented. Nonetheless, the authors 
conclude that the data reliability is sufficient to provide a rough but comprehensive assessment of the 
circularity  of  the  economy  at  the  level  of  material  groups.  Due  to  the  assumptions  made,  it  is 
generally  considered  that  the  model  overestimates  the  circular  use  of  materials  in  the  EU 
economy. 

The  European  Commission  Joint  Research  Centre  together  with  the  Institute  of  Social  Ecology  in 
Vienna (Alpen Adria University) carried out a study to update the Sankey diagram on material flows 
in  the  EU-28  that  was  included  in  the  2016  Raw  Materials  Scoreboard  (Indicator  15).  This  updated 
Sankey  diagram  combines  Eurostat  economy-wide  material  flow  accounts  (EW-MFA)  and  waste 
statistics for 2014 with additional data collection and research. A scientific article is currently under 
preparation and will shortly be submitted for publication43. 

The  Sankey  diagram  systematically  uses  the  latest  available  Eurostat  data  from  EW-MFA44  for  raw 
materials  inputs  from  domestic  extraction  and  imports,  and  to  capture  exports  to  non-EU  countries. 
The allocation of material flows into the different material categories and the split between energetic 
and  material  use  are  based  on  recent  scientific  publications45.  Conversion  factors  to  calculate  the 
amount of metal vs. extractive waste are based on Eurostat46. Additional research and literature studies 
were undertaken, e.g., to determine the fraction of crude oil and natural gas used for material purposes 
(e.g.,  plastics,  lubricants,  tyres),  or  to  determine  the  share  of  materials  used  in  short-lived  vs.  long-
lived products. 

Eurostat  waste  treatment  statistics47  are  used  and,  where  necessary,  are  complemented  to  model  the 
amounts of waste at end-of-life (EoL), recycling and backfilling flows, and waste crossing into nature. 
Because  the  waste  flows  are  reported  using  different  classifications  than  the EW-MFA,  waste  flows 
were reallocated to match the material flow accounts (material categories) using a mix of information, 
e.g.,  from  the  scientific  literature  and  expert  judgements.  A  further  distinction  between  wastes 
originating  from  material  or  energetic  uses  is  made.  Selected  modifications  are  made,  e.g.,  to  adjust 
the water contents in flows of sludge and effluents.       

The Sankey model is based on the law of conservation of mass. It combines reported input and output 
data  from  the  Eurostat  statistics,  and  models  flows  which  are  not  reported  in  official  statistics  to 
balance  differences  in  reported  input  and  output  flows.  Estimates  of  the  annual  material  stock 

42 This annex is a summary of the methodology for the Sankey diagram of material flows in Figure 1. It presents 
the  methods  and  assumptions  made  by  the  authors  of  the  Sankey.  The  opinions  in  this  text  are  those  of  the 
authors of the Sankey diagram and not those of the European Commission. 
43 Andreas Mayer, Willi Haas, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Fridolin Krausmann, Philip Nuss, Gian Andrea Blengini 
(forthcoming): Monitoring the circular economy in the EU28  - A mass-balanced assessment of economy wide 
material flows, waste and emissions from official statistics. In: Journal of Industrial Ecology 
44 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/environment/material-flows-and-resource-productivity/database  
45  Haas  W.  et  al.,  2015.  ‘How  Circular  is  the  Global  Economy?  An  Assessment  of  Material  Flows,  Waste 
Production, and Recycling in the European Union and the World in 2005’, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 19(5) 
(pp. 765-777). 
46 Eurostat 2013. ‘Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) Compilation Guide 2013’. 
47 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/environment/waste/database  

51 

 
 
                                                            
additions  and  the  fraction  of  demolition  and  discard  flows  from  societal  stocks  to  EoL  waste 
management are based on stocking rates reported in the scientific literature48 49. 

Figure  15.4  presents  an  overview  of  the  different  data  points  for  material  flows  through  the  EU28 
indicating  some  of  the  data  sources  used  and  an  assessment  of  the  degree  of  uncertainty  of  the 
diagram's  different  components.  Grey  and  blue  boxes  indicate  flows  that  are  based  on  Eurostat 
statistics,  while  green  boxes  represent  estimates  based  on  the  MFA  model  developed.  The  numbers 
included in the small circles further present an assessment of the degree of data uncertainty (i.e., the 
best estimate ± uncertainty range) and the lack of completeness of data sources. These uncertainties in 
material flow data were classified using expert judgements and the scientific literature50  51 and range 
from ±10% (lower uncertainty), ±20% (medium uncertainty), to ±30% (higher uncertainty).  

Figure  15.4:  Data and  sources for assessing  the  circularity of  the EU28-economy,  including  estimates  of 
uncertainty ranges and completeness of data sources. *Uncertainty ranges between 10-30%.  

48  Haas  W.  et  al.,  2015.  ‘How  Circular  is  the  Global  Economy?  An  Assessment  of  Material  Flows,  Waste 
Production, and Recycling in the European Union and the World in 2005’, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 19(5) 
(pp. 765-777). 
49Krausmann,  F.  et  al.  2017.  ‘Global  socioeconomic  material  stocks  rise  23-fold  over  the  20th  century  and 
require half of annual resource use’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(8) (pp. 1880–1885). 
50 Fischer-Kowalski, M., Krausmann, F., Giljum, S., Lutter, S., Mayer, A., Bringezu, S., Moriguchi, Y., Schütz, 
H.,  Schandl,  H.,  Weisz,  H.,  2011.  'Methodology  and  Indicators  of  Economy-wide  Material  Flow  Accounting’. 
Journal of Industrial Ecology 15, 855–876. doi:10.1111/j.1530-9290.2011.00366.x 
51 Monier, V., M. Hestin, M. Trarieux, S. Mimid, L. Domrose, M. van Acoleyen, P. Hjerp, and S. Mugdal. 2011. 
‘  Study  on 
the  EU’.  Contract 
07.0307/2009/540863/SER/G2.  Final  report  for  the  European  Commission  DG  Environment.  Paris:  Bio 
Intelligence Service S.A.S 

the  management  of  construction  and  demolition  waste 

in 

52 

 
 
 
                                                            
For  some  material  groups,  such  as  many  metals,  fossil  energy  carriers,  and  biomass,  a  broad 
knowledge  of  the  material  system  and  solid  data  exist.  For  other  materials  the  data  situation  is  less 
satisfying  and  the  level  of  uncertainty  is  considerable,  in  particular  for  recycling  rates  and  flows  of 
non-metallic minerals (i.e. construction minerals). 

Data on stocks, addition to stocks, and the separation between energetic and material use, which are 
not reported by Eurostat material flow statistics, are estimated based on available information gathered 
in a broad literature survey. Flows that are not reported but estimated, e.g. for the biomass category 
(by-products  and  residues  as  well  as  biomass  grazed  by  ruminant  livestock)  and  industrial  & 
construction minerals (bulk mineral flows), are acknowledged to add uncertainty to the model.  

Further, in relation to waste flows, there are three issues that cause a certain level of uncertainty. First, 
Eurostat  waste  statistics,  which  are  collected  based  on  the  Waste  Statistics  Regulation,  do  not 
comprise  all  flows  that  are  included  on  the  input  side  (EW-MFA).  In  order  to  balance  this  lack  of 
completeness, these flows are estimated and included under the category “un-reported waste flows”. 
These flows are mainly from agriculture, comprise largely biomass, and have consequently the same 
degree of uncertainty as the biomass input data (i.e. 20%). More specifically, these are excretions of 
humans  and  livestock  which  can  be  modelled  but  which  are  only  reported  to  a  very  limited  degree. 
The  second  source  of  uncertainty  is  related  to  the  right  allocation  of  waste  flows  to  the  different 
environmental  media.  The  outflows  into  the  environment  are  a  matter  of  simplification.  In  the 
modelling,  they  are  treated  as  if  they  all  sooner  or  later  disperse  as  solid  or  liquid  waste  into  the 
environment  (e.g.  via  leachate).  In  reality,  landfills  and  incineration  plants  divert  a  large  share  into 
emissions to air. According to expert assessments, medium uncertainty is assigned to these flows. A 
third source of uncertainty is related to recycling itself. While data on recovered flows are more or less 
reliable,  it  remains  uncertain  to  a  higher  degree,  how  much  of  the  recovered  materials  become 
secondary material to replace primary raw materials, how much consists of downcycling52 53, and how 
much become losses during the preparation phase. 

In  sum  it  is  acknowledged  that  there  are  considerable  uncertainties  in  the  results  presented. 
Nonetheless,  the  authors  conclude  that  the  data  reliability  is  sufficient  to  provide  a  rough  but 
comprehensive assessment of the circularity of the economy at the level of material groups. Due to the 
assumptions made, it is generally considered that the model overestimates the circular use of materials 
in the EU economy. 

52 ‘Downcycling’ refers to reprocessing, where the new product from these recycled materials has a lower 
material quality than the original product (e.g., plastic bottles become street boundary posts). 
53  Haas,  W.,  Krausmann,  F.  Wiedenhofer,  D.  and  Heinz,  M.  2016.  ‘How  Circular  is  the  Global  Economy?  A 
Sociometabolic Analysis’. In: Social Ecology: Society-nature Relations across Time and Space (Eds.) Haberl, H., 
Fischer-Kowalski,  M.,  Krausmann,  F.  and  Winiwarter  V.,  Springer,  Cham  Heidelberg  New  York  Dordrecht 
London) 

53 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Annex 3  

List of NACE codes for the indicator "Private investments, jobs and gross value added related to 
circular economy sectors" 

Proxy NACE Rev 2 codes for recycling 

Definition of 
the EGSS 
handbook, 
Eurostat 2009 

E 38.11 Collection of non-hazardous waste 

E 38.12 Collection of hazardous waste 

E 38.31 Dismantling of wrecks  

E 38.32 Recovery of sorted materials  

G 46.77 Wholesale of waste and scrap 

G 47.79 Retail sale of second-hand goods in stores 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

Proxy NACE Rev 2 codes for repair and reuse 

Repair  Reuse 

C 33.11 Repair of fabricated metal products 

C 33.12 Repair of machinery  

C 33.13 Repair of electronic and optical equipment  

C 33.14 Repair of electrical equipment  

C 33.15 Repair and maintenance of ships and boats  

C 33.16 Repair and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft  

C 33.17 Repair and maintenance of other transport equipment  

C 33.19 Repair of other equipment 

G 45.20 Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles 

G 45.40 Sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles and related parts and 
accessories 

S 95.11 Repair of computers and peripheral equipment  

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

54 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
S 95.12 Repair of communication equipment  

S 95.21 Repair of consumer electronics  

X 

X 

S 95.22 Repair of household appliances and home and garden equipment   X 

S 95.23 Repair of footwear and leather goods  

S 95.24 Repair of furniture and home furnishings  

S 95.25 Repair of watches, clocks and jewellery  

S 95.29 Repair of other personal and household goods 

X 

X 

X 

X 

55 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex 4  

List of CPC codes for the indicator "Number of patents related to recycling and secondary raw 
materials 

In bold are the patent codes of the 12 technologies selected in Fig. 10.3. 

Y02W  10/00 - Technologies for wastewater treatment 

  Y02W  10/10 - Biological treatment of water, waste water, or sewage 

o  Y02W  10/12 - Anaerobic processes with biogas recycling, capture or flaring 
o  Y02W  10/15 - Aerobic processes 
o  Y02W  10/18 - Constructed wetlands 

  Y02W  10/20 - Sludge processing 

o  Y02W  10/23 - Anaerobic processes with biogas recycling, capture or flaring 
o  Y02W  10/27 - Aerobic processes 

  Y02W  10/40 - Valorisation of by-products of wastewater, sewage or sludge processing 

o  Y02W  10/45 - Obtention of bio-polymers 

Y02W  30/00 - Technologies for solid waste management 

  Y02W  30/10 - Related to waste collection, transportation, transferor storage, e.g. segregated 

refuse collecting, electric or hybrid propulsion 

  Y02W  30/20 - Related to waste processing or separation 

  Y02W  30/40 - Bio-organic fraction processing; Production of fertilisers from the organic 

fraction of waste or refuse 

o  Y02W  30/43 - Aerobic fermentation, e.g. composting 

o  Y02W  30/47 - Anaerobic fermentation, e.g. methanation combined with capture, 

recycling or flaring 

  Y02W  30/50 - Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies 

o  Y02W  30/52 - Dismantling or mechanical processing of waste for the recovery of 

materials during separation, disassembly, pre-processing or upgrading 

o  Y02W  30/54 - Metal recycling 
o  Y02W  30/56 - Disassembly of vehicles for recovery of salvageable parts 
o  Y02W  30/58 - Construction or demolition waste 
o  Y02W  30/60 - Glass recycling 
o  Y02W  30/62 - Plastics recycling 
o  Y02W  30/64 - Paper recycling 
o  Y02W  30/66 - Disintegrating fibre-containing textile articles to obtain fibres for re-use 
o  Y02W  30/68 - Rubber waste recycling 
o  Y02W  30/70 - Recovery of polymers other than plastics or rubbers 
o  Y02W  30/72 - Recovery of luminescent materials 
o  Y02W  30/74 - Recovery of fats, fatty oils, fatty acids or other fatty substances, e.g. lanolin 

or waxes 

o  Y02W  30/76 - Recovery of tanning agents from leather 
o  Y02W  30/78 - Recycling of wood or furniture waste 
o  Y02W  30/80 - Packaging reuse or recycling 
o  Y02W  30/82 - Recycling of waste of electrical or electronic equipment  
o  Y02W  30/84 - Recycling of batteries 
o  Y02W  30/86 - Recycling of fuel cells 
o  Y02W  30/88 - Nuclear fuel reprocessing 
o  Y02W  30/90 - Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies crosscutting to different types of 

waste 

Y02W  90/00 - Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse 
gas emissions mitigation 

  Y02W  90/20 - Computer systems or methods specially adapted for waste reduction or recycling of 

materials or goods 

56 

 
 
 
 
 
Annex 5. Key characteristics of circular economy monitoring indicators  

 
 
Indicator and area 

Unit(s) 

Data Provider 

Fequency of data 
collection 

Timeliness 

Available 
countries 2 

First  
year 

Most recent 
year 

Quality rating 

1 

2 

3 

Production and consumption 

EU self-sufficiency for raw materials 

Green public procurement 

Waste generation 

% 

Number, % GDP 

European Commission 
(JRC/GROW) 
European Commission 
(GROW/ENV) 

every 3 years 

t-1 year 

EU level 

2016 

2016 

every year 

t-1 year 

All EU MS + 

2021? 

       • Generation of municipal waste (per capita) 

kg per capita 

Eurostat 

every year 

t-1 year 

All EU MS + 

1995 

2016 

       • Generation of waste excluding major mineral wastes, per GDP unit 

kg per thousand euro, 
chain linked volumes 
(2010) 

Eurostat 

every 2 years 

t-2 year 

All EU MS + 

2004 

2014 

       • Generation of waste excluding major mineral wastes, per domestic material consumption 

% 

Eurostat 

every 2 years 

t-2 year 

All EU MS + 

2004 

2014 

4 

 Food waste 

tonne  

European Commission 

Not regular yet 

N/A 

EU level 

2012-2014 
(estimate) 

2014 

Waste management 

Recycling rates 

5 

      • Recycling rate of municipal waste 

      • Recycling rate of all waste excluding major mineral waste 

Recycling for specific waste streams 

      • Recycling rate for overall packaging 

      • Recycling rate of plastic packaging 

6 

      • Recycling rate of wooden packaging 

      • Recycling rate of e-waste 

      • Recycling of bio-waste 

      • Recovery rate of construction and demolition waste 

Secondary raw materials 

Contribution of recycled materials to raw materials demand 

7 

      • End-of-life recycling input rates for raw materials 

      • Circular material use rate 

% 

% 

% 

% 

% 

% 

kg per capita 

% 

% 

% 

Eurostat 

Eurostat 

Eurostat 

Eurostat 

Eurostat 

Eurostat 

Eurostat 

Eurostat 

every year 

every 2 years 

every year 

every year 

every year 

every year 

every year 

every 2 years 

t-1 year 

t-2 year 

t-2 year 

t-2 year 

t-2 year 

t-2 year 

t-1 year 

t-2 year 

All EU MS + 

All EU MS + 

All EU MS + 

All EU MS + 

All EU MS + 

All EU MS 

All EU MS + 

All EU MS 

European Commission 
(JRC/GROW) 

every 3 years 

Eurostat 

every year 

t-1 year 

t-2 year 

EU level 

All EU MS + 

1995 

2010 

1997 

1997 

2005 

2005 

1995 

2010 

2016 

2004 

8 

Trade in recyclable raw materials 

tonne / thousand euro 

Eurostat 

every year 

t-1 year 

All EU MS + 

1988 

2016 

2014 

2015 

2015 

2015 

2015 

2015 

2014 

2016 

2014 

2016 

Competitiveness and innovation 

Private investment, jobs and gross value added related to circular economy sectors 

      •  Gross investment in tangible goods 

9 

      •  Number of persons employed 

      •  Value added at factor cost 

million euro, %GDP 

Number, % employment 

million euro, % GDP 

10 

Number of patents related to recycling and secondary raw materials 

Number, % world 

Eurostat 

every year 

t-1 year 

All EU MS + 

1999 

2015 

European Commission 
(Joint Research 
Centre based on 
PATSTAT) 

every year 

t-4 year 

All EU MS + 

1977 

2013