ISTANBUL 

Of all the materials used in the EU last year, 11.8% came from recycled products, according to data released Wednesday by regional statistical bureau Eurostat.

This was an all-time record and up from 11.5%, 2022's circularity rate, an indicator measuring the share of recycled materials among overall materials used in the economy, including material flows, fossil fuels, and energy products, Eurostat said.

The highest circularity rate was in the Netherlands at 30.6%, followed by Italy at 20.8%, and the island nation of Malta at 19.8%.

The lowest reading was in Romania with 1.3%, followed by Ireland with 2.3%, and Finland with 2.4%.

The highest share of circularity at the EU level was in metal ores at 24.7%, up 2.2 percentage points from 2022, followed by non-metallic minerals at 13.6%, up 0.3 percentage points, biomass at 10.1% with a 0.7 percentage point increase, and fossil energy materials/carriers at 3.4% with a 0.6 percentage point rise.

“The Circular economy action plan from 2020 aims to double the EU’s circular material use rate by 2030 to reach 23.2%,” Eurostat said.