The sustainable development goal ‘sustainable cities and communities’ (SDG 11) aims to renew and plan cities and other human settlements in a way that offers opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transport, waste management, clean air and green public spaces, while reducing resource use and environmental impact.
One of the Eurostat indicators used to measure progress in SDG 11 is the recycling rate of municipal waste, which includes recycling and preparing materials for re-use. Since 2008, the EU’s recycling rate of municipal waste has increased from 36.6% to 46.4% in 2018 and 48.2% in 2023. However, this is below the peak of the recycling rate of 49.9% observed in 2021. The EU has set a target to recycle 60% of the total municipal waste generated by 2030.
Source dataset: sdg_11_60
For more information
- Publications on the sustainable development goals
- Thematic section on the sustainable development goals
- Database on sustainable development goals
- Recording of the webinar on the EU’s progress towards the SDGs
- Visualization tool SDG EU progress tracker
- Visualization tool SDGs & me
- Visualization tool SDG country overview
- UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
