Recycling is structural policy

The circular economy is considered a key concept for permanently decoupling economic growth and resource consumption. Municipal recycling in particular plays a central role in this context. The political goals are correspondingly ambitious. In fact, however, a clearly differentiated picture emerges. Some Member States are already well above this target, while others are making little progress despite political efforts. The question of which structural framework conditions promote or inhibit recycling performance is thus becoming increasingly important. The study "Municipal waste recycling in the EU: a multi-method analysis of determinants and country profiles (2005-2023)" by Slovak scientists has for the first time comprehensively examined these relationships for all EU member states in the period 2005 to 2023. The study has been published in "Frontiers in Environmental Science".