Circular material use rate

Since 2010, the circular material use rate in France has been on average 6 percentage points higher than the EU average. However, the circular material use rate remains stable in France, rising from 17.5% in 2010 to 17.6% in 2023. The recycling rate for paper and cardboard showed the greatest increase between 2010 and 2021 (+ 11 percentage points), followed by glass (+ 9 percentage points). On the other hand, metal ores, more specifically scrap, showed a decline in circular use (– 15 percentage points). With a circular use rate of only 10%, plastic materials circular use is far behind.

As the circular material use rate has been slow to develop, this will make it difficult for France to achieve the EU’s political objective of doubling its rate of use of these materials by 2030 compared with 2020. This would require an average annual increase of around 7% between 2020 and 2030. An important step towards achieving this goal would be to greatly increase the recycling of plastic, as it is currently the material that is the least recycled in the French economy.