The circularity rate in the world economy has dropped from 9.1% to 7.2% in five years. Italy remains the most circular country in Europe with a material reuse rate at 18.4 percent in 2021 - latest available data - against an EU average of 11.7 percent (the parcentage was 20.6 percent in 2020 and 19.5 percent in 2019). These are the findings of the 5th National Circular Economy Report produced by Circular Economy Network and ENEA and presented in Rome. The waste recycling rate in 2020 was 53 percent in Europe and 72 percent in Italy, which is one of the highest recycling rates in the EU. Compared with other major European economies, Italy consolidated its lead in 2020, surpassing Germany by about 17 points. The growth rate over the past 10 years is unchanged for the EU, while it has risen by 8 percent in Italy and 3 percent in Spain. In terms of per capita values, Italy is first, with as much as 969 kg/inhabitant per year sent for recycling; then comes Germany (921), Poland (726), France (625) and Spain (472). Less positive for the Belpaese, however, is the trend in the rate of material use from recycling (the ratio of circular material use to total use, that is, from virgin raw materials and recycled materials). In the EU in 2021 this averaged 11.7 percent, down 0.1 percent from 2020. For the first time, Italy declined in 2021, standing at 18.4 percent (2.2 percent lower than the previous year), losing the lead among the top five European economies, surpassed by France, which led with 1.4 percentage points more.
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