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Environmental information systems
The indicator shows the share of material recovered and fed back into the economy – and thus saving extraction of primary raw materials – in overall material use.
As shown in the graph, the Dutch circular material use rate (CMUR) reached 30.6% in 2023, increasing from 25.5% in 2010. The CMUR means that this amount of the material resources used in the Netherlands came from recycled waste materials. This rate is well above the 2030 EU target, which aims to double the .
Non-metal minerals contributed the most to this CMUR. In 2022, 32% of the total amount of non-metal minerals used was secondary materials. This was mainly due to the use of construction and demolition waste, which is often used as a base layer in the construction of new roads. Biomass and metals accounted for a significant percentage of secondary material use. The share of secondary materials is lowest in the total use of fossil raw materials, amounting to only 1%. Secondary fossil materials mainly consist of .
The CMUR is one of the indicators that shows if the transition to a circular economy is on track, although the indicator’s view is limited to waste materials and residual flows that can be reused as secondary materials. Because of these limitations, the CMUR indicator does not take into account more high-value circular strategies, such as other types of reuse, .
References and footnotes
- ↵Eurostat, ‘Circular material use rate’, env_ac_cur, 13 November 2024, accessed 30 June 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_ac_cur__custom_10316794/default/table.
- ↵Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Integrale Circulaire Economie Rapportage 2025, The Hague, 2025, accessed 30 June 2025, https://www.pbl.nl/publicaties/integrale-circulaire-economie-rapportage-2025.
- ↵Koch, J., Wilting, H., Hanemaaijer, A., Kishna, M., Delahaye, R. et al., Circulair materiaalgebruik in Nederland; Vergelijking tussen verschillende indicatorberekeningen en aanbevelingen, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Hague, 2020, accessed 30 June 2025, https://www.pbl.nl/publicaties/circulair-materiaalgebruik-in-nederland.