Press release from the Waste Industry Association (ZOP SR)
Bratislava, 20th of March 2025
Recycling volumes are growing. Packaging waste is the leader with a 72% success rate. We owe this success to extended producer responsibility.
- The Slovak Republic currently recycles 51.3% of its waste.
- In 17 years, the Slovak Republic has managed to increase packaging recycling from 45.21% to 72.19%.
- A new challenge is the recycling of textile waste. According to the EPR, it should have been under the management of extended producer responsibility.
In 2023, the Waste Industry Association noted several positive impacts in the recycling of municipal waste. Recycling is one of the two key national and European challenges for sustainable development. The other remains the replacement of landfilling with other technological forms for the processing of non-recyclable waste.
In 2023, the municipal waste recycling rate in Slovakia reached 51.3%, which represents an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to the previous year. Although Slovakia has made significant progress in the field of recycling, achieving the target of 55% recycling level by 31.12.2025 is an ambitious goal. According to Ján Chovanec, CEO of ZOP, each percentage gain will be harder and harder to achieve. This is confirmed by the experience of Western Europe, where many developed countries grow at a very slow pace after reaching the 50-60% mark. They encounter logistical obstacles and, in particular, complex physico-chemical processes in the recycling of several types of waste, especially plastic waste. Processing packaging waste has had the most success in overcoming these problems.
"The Waste Industry Association also brings together producer responsibility organizations whose task is to finance separate collection. Based on long-term data, we can conclude that the value of the nationwide level of municipal waste recycling began to demonstrably increase only after the full launch of extended producer responsibility in 2016," says Ján Chovanec. At the end of 2016, when extended producer responsibility was slowly taking off, the level of municipal waste recycling was only 23%.
"Slovakia has been achieving very good results in the recycling of packaging waste for a long time. Already in 2022, we met the targets set by European legislation for 2025. Today, we are achieving the goal of recycling at least 65% of the weight of all packaging waste. The recycling rate of packaging waste increased from 45.21% in 2005 to 72.19% in 2022. When we analyze this percentage in more depth, we meet all targets for individual types of packaging waste - glass, plastics, paper, metals and wood," says Michal Sebíň, vice president of the association.
However, as recycling increases, the total amount of packaging waste also increases. The only exceptions were 2021 and 2022, when the volume of packaging waste decreased by 0.75%. “A similar trend is also visible in municipal waste generation and is related to record inflation, high energy prices and rising prices of goods and services. Consumer preferences were not helped by Covid-19 restrictions,” explains M. Sebíň.
Briefly about the Waste Industry Association
The Waste Industry Association (“ZOP” or “WIA”) was established to initiate and promote effective and economical solutions for the sustainable development and competitiveness of the waste industry in the Slovak Republic. ZOP is interested in participating in a new architecture of waste management, which will create an effective, sustainable, socially responsible and environmentally friendly model. The association represents a wide range of entities from the field of science and research, legal and professional advisors, municipal and industrial sectors and entities doing business in the waste industry.
Source of statistical data: State of the Environment Report 2023
