On April 16, 2026, the European Commission published its first official report under the Single Use Plastics Directive (SUPD). The document, based on data provided by European Union Member States for the 2022 baseline year, presents clear and encouraging results: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and seven other Member States have already exceeded the 77 percent separate collection target set for 2025. The report serves as a fundamental reference point for measuring future Member State obligations and highlights the critical role that extended producer responsibility and green public procurement play in curbing plastic pollution.
A New Baseline for Future Monitoring
The primary goal of the first SUPD report is to establish a solid, data-driven baseline for the European Union. This foundation will enable the Commission to objectively track future Member State performances and legislative compliance.
Specifically, the report is designed to measure three key areas:
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Checking Member States’ compliance regarding the binding 2025 and 2030 targets for the separate collection of PET and other single-use plastic (SUP) beverage bottles.
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Tracking the trends in residential and industrial consumption of single-use food containers and beverage cups.
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Accurately registering the volume of plastic-containing fishing gear placed on the market as well as collected as waste.
Consumption Metrics: Hundreds of Thousands of Tons and Per Capita Averages
During the analysis of consumption data, the report revealed staggering, concrete quantitative figures for the year 2022. These numbers highlight the true scale of the European market’s plastic demand:
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Food containers: In 2022, a total of 524,003 tons of single-use plastic food containers were sold across the EU. This represents approximately 1.6 kilograms of sold plastic per capita.
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Beverage cups: In the same year, 152,037 tons of single-use beverage cups were placed on the market, which equates to a consumption of roughly 0.5 kilograms per person.
Subsequent reports will exactingly measure whether Member States have genuinely succeeded in reducing the consumption of these highly polluting products by 2026. Based on experience so far, countries have most frequently attempted to curb consumption through economic instruments—such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations—green public procurement tools, and public awareness campaigns promoting sustainable alternatives.
Outstanding Member State Performances: Collection Targets Surpassed
The most remarkable and positive segment of the report is the statistics regarding the selective collection of plastic beverage bottles.
According to the directive, Member States must achieve a 77 percent separate collection rate by 2025, and a 90 percent rate by 2030. According to the published data, the average collection rate across the European Union stood steadily at 71 percent. Even more importantly, ten Member States delivered an outstanding performance, having already met or exceeded the 2025 target of 77 percent years ahead of the deadline. These countries are:
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Estonia
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Poland
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Finland
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Germany
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Denmark
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Sweden
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Lithuania
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Croatia
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Slovakia
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Belgium
Furthermore, out of this top tier of ten countries, six states (Estonia, Poland, Finland, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden) have already fully achieved the extremely strict 90 percent collection rate mandated for 2030.
The Regulatory Background and the Issue of Fishing Gear
The SUPD (Single Use Plastics Directive), which forms the basis for these results, primarily targets the ten categories of single-use plastic products most frequently found on European beaches, as well as fishing gear containing plastic.
The legislation does not merely restrict sales but introduces a specific set of rules for various product categories (including items made partly or entirely of plastic). In the case of plastic-containing fishing gear, the directive is particularly strict: it mandates full life-cycle Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)—from manufacturing to becoming waste—rigorous tracking and reporting obligations, and specific annual national collection rates to guarantee recycling.
References and Official Sources:
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Original official Commission press release: Ten EU countries exceeding SUPD collection targets – Environment – European Commission (April 16, 2026)
