The line graph shows the percentage of glass, paper and plastic waste recycled in one country between 1990 and 2020.
Overall, recycling rates rose for all three materials. Glass and paper were recycled far more than plastic, but plastic showed the fastest relative growth, and glass ended up with the highest rate.
In 1990 paper had the highest recycling rate, at 35%, ahead of glass at 20%. Paper rose steadily to 50% in 2000 and 64% in 2010, but its growth then slowed, and it reached only 67% in 2020. Glass grew faster. It climbed from 20% to 40% in 2000 and 52% in 2005, drawing level with paper at around 62% to 64% in 2010. After that it overtook paper, reaching 68% in 2015 and 72% in 2020.
Plastic had a very low starting point of just 2% in 1990, and remained at 4% in 1995 and 7% in 2000. The rate then began to accelerate, reaching 12% in 2005 and 20% in 2010. It continued to rise to 30% in 2015 and finished at 38% in 2020, although this was still far below glass and paper, at barely half the glass figure.