A reliable comparison of European Union (EU) Member States’ reporting of
statistics on plastic packaging waste generation, recycling and recovery is
necessary if there is to be a fair transition to a circular economy across the
EU. It is a priority for there to be an improvement in the quality and validity
of these statistics to assess each Member State’s performance in relation to EU
targets. This article explores the quality of national reporting based on the
two main approaches which are used to calculate packaging waste generation,
namely ‘placed on the market’ and ‘waste analysis’. The findings outline how
Member States apply a variety of approaches leading to different packaging waste
statistics which makes reported data difficult to compare. Often, it is not
clear what approach is applied in different counties. Factors such as
freeriding, non-compliance and de minimis have represented the primary
weaknesses in evaluating and reporting packaging waste statistics as producers
have financial incentives for under-reporting. This article highlights the need
to inform circular economy strategies by addressing the challenge of comparing
data on packaging and plastic packaging waste generation across the EU.