How close is Hungary to hitting its recycling target? 

In a 2018 report published in September 2018, the European Commission warned that Hungary risked falling behind on its waste recycling target by 2020. According to the EC, Hungary was one of the 14 European countries who encountered difficulties meeting their recycling goals and was at the very bottom of the list, together with Malta and Romania. As a result, the EC released a follow-up report to further discuss the biggest recycling challenges and help Hungary develop a long-term strategy. 

 By 2030, the EU wants member states to cut down plastic waste by 55% and dramatically reduce the individual use of plastic bags, which have been proven to harm the environment. As part of this European goal, Hungary is working on the creation of stricter recycling regulations, such as a ban on single-use plastics by 2021. 

 How bad are Hungarians at recycling?

According to the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the average Hungarian citizen uses 80 plastic bags every year and most of these bags end up in landfills, where they release toxic gases. Although the general recycling levels have increased considerably in Hungary, the country struggles in two main sectors: plastic and e-waste. 

 Statistically speaking, Central European countries produce the least amount of waste and overall, Hungary has made considerable progress, because 35% of the total waste generated is actually recycled. In Europe, only Finland and Poland managed to exceed this number. Nevertheless, a worrying 51% of waste generated goes to landfills, which is where improvements need to be made. 

 The state of plastic recycling in Hungary is one of the worst in the European Union. The rate of plastic recycling in the EU is 42%, whereas Hungary currently stands at 31%. The Government hopes to boost these numbers starting with 2021 when the ban on single-use plastics will come into play. Apart from the ban on plastic bags, which are still used heavily in Hungary, the government also plans to increase fees on single-use cups, plates, utensils, and straws, which take hundreds of years to decompose. 

Apart from plastic waste, e-waste is another major challenge that Hungary is struggling to find solutions for. If three-quarters of Hungarians are aware of the importance of selective recycling and sort paper and plastic garbage at home, the dangers of e-waste are less known. 

Recent research reveals that nearly half of Hungarians place the electronic devices they no longer need in their garbage bins at home or on the streets, which is extremely harmful to the environment. This contradicts the confidence of the general public, who believes that they dispose of batteries, cables, and other e-waste correctly. 

In reality, 50% of Hungarians throw away electronic devices with general waste or, even worse, leave it in the street so that someone might find them useful and pick them up. Environmentalists warn that e-waste is just as dangerous as plastic waste, perhaps even more so, and it should only go in special bins.