April 17, 2026 15:15

The European Commission published its first report on the results achieved in 2022 under the SUP Directive on reducing single-use items, including bottles, containers, cups and fishing gear, based on declarations submitted by Member States (downloadable HERE).

One important caveat remains: the Commission itself notes that the data from the first reporting exercise are not fully comparable across countries because of differences in methodology, accuracy, completeness and the quality of the information collected.

Ten EU countries had already met, four years in advance, the 2025 target for the separate collection of single-use plastic beverage bottles, set at 77% of the volume placed on the market: Estonia, Poland, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovakia and Belgium. The number rises to 12 if Iceland and Norway are also included. Italy’s figure stands at 67%, placing it ahead of other large countries such as France and Spain.

Six of those countries — Estonia, Poland, Finland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden — had already achieved the more ambitious 90% target set for 2029.

Across all Member States, the collection rate for single-use bottles stood at 71%.

The report also shows that 10 of the 12 European countries with the highest collection rates had already adopted deposit and refund systems (DRS) at the time of the survey.

The report will serve as a baseline for measuring Member States’ compliance with the binding targets set for 2025 and 2029 for the separate collection of plastic beverage bottles, as well as with those still to be defined for the consumption of single-use plastic food containers and beverage cups.

In volume terms, a total of 2.54 million tonnes of bottles, 524,000 tonnes of single-use plastic food containers (about 1.6kg per person) and 152,037 tonnes of single-use beverage cups (about 0.5kg per person) were placed on the market in Europe in 2022, along with 22,900 tonnes of plastic-containing fishing gear, about one third of which was collected as waste.

See also: First EU report on the SUP Directive

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