20.8% of what we use comes from recycled waste material. We are not always last, Italy is in second place for recycling materials.
What does it mean? In simple terms, our country is second in Europe for the “circularity rate”, an index that measures the share of recycled materials out of the total materials used, which instead of being disposed of as waste, are reintegrated into production processes.
Compared to the EU average, whose circularity rate in 2023 was 11.8% (it is assumed that by 2030 it can double), Italy has proven to be surprisingly avant-garde on this issue. In percentage terms, our country is 9 points above the EU average (20.8%).
The undisputed leader in terms of circularity rate is the Netherlands, which is second in the ranking by 10 points (30.6%). The last in the ranking are Romania (1.3%), Ireland (2.3%) and Finland (2.4%).
Let’s take a few examples: as far as the aluminum industry is concerned, the reuse of cans reduces dependence on the extraction of the mineral from which this metal derives, Bauxite. In construction, the rubble resulting from demolition is recycled and through a process, it is transformed into new building materials, such as concrete or gravel. Not to mention glass, which is the only material that can be recycled indefinitely (if you want to recover the video, we talked about it a few days ago). As for plastic, it is cleaned and transformed into granulate which is in turn used for the production of new containers or technical fabrics. Regarding the fashion industry, there are many brands, which also for a matter of identity, use fabrics derived from recycled material.
The recycling of materials brings great environmental benefits: it reduces landfilling or incineration of waste, it does not pollute the environment, as it avoids new production processes for the production of new materials, promotes a sustainable model of circular economy and reduces dependence on the extraction of new resources.
