EU’s ambitious circular material use rate targets

The EU is not on track to achieve its 2030 target of 23.4% circular material use rate (CMUR) – a measure of all materials used from recycled waste.

From 2010 to 2021 there has been a modest increase in this rate, from 10.8 to 11.7% across the EU-27. The rates vary between countries from as high as 34% to as low as 1%.

Waste recycling is an important area of focus towards this target, but this alone will not be sufficient. Additional measures, such as decreasing material inputs and cutting fossil fuel resource use are also required to get there.