The amount of plastic generated in 2016 was twice that in 2015, but almost all of it has been recycled, according to the National Statistics Office.
In all, 8,714 tonnes were generated, of which 7,915 tonnes were recovered and treated. Of this, 7,876 were recycled.
The other 800 tonnes was presumably not recovered.
The NSO said that the separation of waste by households has been rising steadily, from 1,000 in 2010, reaching 4,934 tonnes in 2016. The green/grey bags collected from homes yielded 4,272 tonnes, an increase of 16 per cent over 2015 and of 137 per cent over 2011.
It noted that each person recycled 17.1kg of waste in 2016.
With World Environment Day being celebrated every day on June 5, the NSO dedicated Monday's press release to Malta's performance indicators in this field.