Glass recycling statistics show a wide range of outcomes by country and measurement system. The Close the Glass Loop maps reported an EU average collection rate of 80% in 2020 and 80.2% in 2022, while U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data recorded a 31.3% glass container recycling rate in 2018. These figures describe different places, years, and measures, so they should be read as separate benchmarks rather than a single global rate.
Contents
- European collection rates
- Country comparisons in 2020
- Country comparisons in 2022
- Progress toward the 90% target
- United States glass recycling
- What happens to collected glass
- Local glass diversion projects
European collection rates
The Close the Glass Loop 2020 map reported an average collection for recycling rate of 80% for glass packaging across the EU27 plus the United Kingdom. The same map recorded substantial differences among individual countries. Switzerland was at 99%, Norway and Sweden were each at 98%, and Finland was at 97%. Italy recorded 95%, while the Netherlands recorded 90%.
Other countries were close to, but below, the 90% level in the 2020 map. Austria recorded 89%, Ireland and the Czech Republic each recorded 88%, Germany recorded 84%, and Bulgaria recorded 83%. France was at 80%, the United Kingdom at 76%, Slovakia at 70%, and Poland at 67%.
The lower reported rates in that map included Romania at 62%, Portugal at 49%, Malta at 44%, Cyprus at 35%, Greece at 32%, and Hungary at 29%. Turkey was recorded at 14%. These are collection-for-recycling rates for glass packaging in 2020, as labeled by the Close the Glass Loop 2020 map.
The 2022 map reported an EU average collection rate of 80.2%. That result is close to the 2020 EU27 plus UK average, although the coverage and country grouping should be kept in mind when comparing the two figures. The Close the Glass Loop 2022 map also showed that national results continued to span a broad range.
Country comparisons in 2020
The 2020 results can be grouped into a compact comparison of the countries with the highest and lowest reported collection rates in the supplied map.
| Country or area | 2020 glass packaging collection for recycling rate |
|---|---|
| Switzerland | 99% |
| Norway | 98% |
| Sweden | 98% |
| Finland | 97% |
| Italy | 95% |
| Netherlands | 90% |
| EU27 + UK average | 80% |
| United Kingdom | 76% |
| Poland | 67% |
| Romania | 62% |
| Portugal | 49% |
| Greece | 32% |
| Hungary | 29% |
| Turkey | 14% |
Belgium was listed at 102% in 2020. A rate above 100% is reproduced here as reported by the source; it should not be treated as a conventional share without understanding the source’s collection-rate methodology. The 2020 map also listed Spain at 73%, Portugal at 49%, Ireland at 88%, Germany at 84%, France at 80%, Malta at 44%, Cyprus at 35%, Bulgaria at 83%, Slovakia at 70%, and the Czech Republic at 88%.
Country comparisons in 2022
The 2022 Close the Glass Loop map reported 80.2% for the EU average. Belgium was listed at 123%, Switzerland at 97%, Slovenia at 96%, Finland at 93%, and Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden at 90% each. Italy recorded 88%, Germany 85%, Bulgaria 85%, Ireland 84%, and Norway 83%.
Several countries were reported in the middle of the range: France at 82%, Slovakia at 82%, Estonia at 80%, Austria at 78%, Poland at 73%, Latvia at 70%, Spain at 70%, Lithuania at 67%, Croatia at 63%, Romania at 64%, and Malta at 60%. Cyprus was at 54%, Portugal at 51%, Hungary at 38%, and Greece at 22%.
| Country or area | 2022 glass packaging collection for recycling rate |
|---|---|
| EU average | 80.2% |
| Belgium | 123% |
| Switzerland | 97% |
| Slovenia | 96% |
| Finland | 93% |
| Denmark | 90% |
| Netherlands | 86% |
| Germany | 85% |
| Italy | 88% |
| Portugal | 51% |
| Cyprus | 54% |
| Hungary | 38% |
| Greece | 22% |
The 2022 map also reported the United Kingdom at 75%, down from 76% in the 2020 map, and Spain at 70%, down from 73%. Ireland was listed at 84%, compared with 88% in 2020. Other changes in the reported map values included Portugal at 51% versus 49% in 2020, Hungary at 38% versus 29%, Cyprus at 54% versus 35%, and Malta at 60% versus 44%. These are year-specific reported rates, not a controlled estimate of annual change.
Progress toward the 90% target
The Close the Glass Loop 2022 extra-effort map said that each citizen across the European Union would need to collect an additional 4.11 kilograms of glass packaging to reach a 90% target. The same source identified Belgium, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark as countries achieving more than 90% glass collection for recycling in 2022.
The target comparison helps explain why an EU average of 80.2% can coexist with several countries above 90%. National collection rates vary considerably, and the average does not describe the performance of every country. It also does not convert directly into a U.S. recycling rate because collection for recycling, recycling of containers, and effective recycling output are different measures.
In a separate 2022 press release, Close the Glass Loop said the EU average collection rate remained stable at 80.2% and that glass collected reached 12.4 million tonnes, about 542,000 tonnes more than the previous year. The release is a volume and rate snapshot for the stated period; it does not establish a long-term trend by itself. See the Close the Glass Loop 2022 press release.
United States glass recycling
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s glass material-specific data reported that glass generation in all products reached 12.3 million tons in 2018. Recycled glass containers totaled 3.1 million tons, and the U.S. glass container recycling rate was 31.3%.
The same 2018 EPA data recorded 1.6 million tons of glass combusted with energy recovery. Approximately 7.6 million tons of municipal solid waste glass went to U.S. landfills. These values describe U.S. glass material flows in 2018 and should not be combined arithmetically with the European collection rates above.
The Glass Recycling Foundation’s 2022 Impact Report said only one third of glass was currently recovered for recycling in the United States. It also said 9.2 million tons of glass needlessly went to landfills. Because these figures come from a different source and reporting context than the EPA’s 2018 national data, they are best treated as separate U.S. indicators rather than interchangeable measurements.
The Glass Recycling Foundation also reported $275,000 in donations and new donor recognition program support in 2022. Nearly $200,000 in glass recycling grants and pilot support were awarded, and nearly 600 tons were diverted from 2022 projects. The report said three North Carolina counties received grants to expand rural glass recycling infrastructure. Source: the 2022 Glass Recycling Foundation Impact Report.
What happens to collected glass
Close the Glass Loop’s 2024 report summarized a 2022 survey of 81 facilities covering 20 European countries. The survey represented 62% of the total available glass collected for recycling in the European Union, Norway, and the United Kingdom. It accounted for 14,351,404 tonnes of total input tonnage and 8,883,864 tonnes of effectively recycled output tonnage.
The survey said 87% of total reported input tonnage came from municipal waste. It reported that 92% of total reported input tonnage was effectively recycled. Among effectively recycled tonnage, 93% was recycled in a glass manufacturing process, and 97% was recycled in a closed-loop glass packaging manufacturing process.
The report estimated closed-loop recycling performance for collected glass packaging at 85% in 2022. This estimate concerns the collected-glass stream described by the report, not all glass generated in Europe. The survey’s facility coverage and 62% representation of available collected glass are important boundaries when interpreting the results. Source: the Close the Glass Loop 2024 report.
These figures also show why a collection rate and an effective recycling result answer different questions. Collection measures what enters a recycling system, while effectively recycled output describes what remains usable after processing. The report further separates glass manufacturing and closed-loop packaging manufacturing, allowing readers to distinguish recycling into glass products from broader recovery claims.
Local glass diversion projects
The 2022 Glass Recycling Foundation Impact Report included several local project results. In Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 110 recycling carts helped collect 55.24 tons of glass over eight months from 42 businesses, households, and community drop-offs. The figure combines the participating locations described in the report and covers that eight-month period only.
In Erie County, Pennsylvania, 66.2 tons of material were diverted from local landfills during the first four months of collecting glass from 14 bars and restaurants and six beer distributors. This is a project-level diversion result, not a national recycling rate.
The two examples illustrate how infrastructure can be measured in practical terms: carts, participating businesses and households, collection duration, and tons diverted. The Foundation’s report also connected grant funding with rural infrastructure expansion in three North Carolina counties, but it did not provide a tonnage result for those counties in the supplied figures.
For readers comparing glass recycling statistics, the most useful distinctions are the measurement year, geography, material boundary, and stage of the process. A collection rate can indicate how much packaging enters a recovery system; an effective output rate can indicate how much remains recyclable after processing; and a landfill or diversion figure describes a destination or project outcome. Keeping those definitions separate makes the European and U.S. statistics easier to interpret without implying that they are one standardized global measure.