The latest data from Eurostat shows that in 2024, 12.2% of all materials used across the EU originated from recycled sources, the highest share ever recorded under the circular material use indicator.  

The circularity rate rose by 0.1 percentage points (pp) compared with 2023, and by 1.0 pp since 2015.   In 2024, the highest national rates were observed in the Netherlands (32.7%), Belgium (22.7%) and Italy (21.6%), while the lowest were found in Romania (1.3%), Finland and Ireland (each 2.0%) and Portugal (3.0%), reflecting wide variation across member states.

The data also reveal which types of materials contribute most to the EU’s circularity:

• Metal ores lead with a 23.4% circularity rate,
• followed by non-metallic minerals at 14.3%,
• biomass at 9.9% and
• fossil energy materials/carriers at 3.8%.  

This upward trend shows growing uptake of recycled materials, a key metric for assessing progress toward a circular economy in the EU.

For more details, visit the Eurostat announcement.