Austria records 782 kg municipal waste per capita, highest in EU

Austria boasts the highest municipal waste per capita in the European Union, of 782 kg per person, according to Eurostat data.

Other countries to report a high level of municipal waste per capita include Denmark (755 kg per person), and Belgium (699 kg per person), while the lowest amount of waste per capita was generated in Romania (305 kg), Estonia (375 kg) and Poland (387 kg). 

In 2024, the amount of municipal waste generated per person in the EU corresponded to 517 kg.🗑

Highest levels in:
🇦🇹Austria (782 kg per person)
🇩🇰Denmark (755 kg)

Lowest in:
🇷🇴Romania (305 kg)
🇪🇪Estonia (375 kg)

👉https://t.co/X0Hbb7R1Cn#InternationalDayOfZeroWaste pic.twitter.com/8PhXRvDXlH

— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) March 30, 2026

Municipal waste

Municipal waste generation across the EU continued to increase in 2024, reaching an average of 517 kg per person, according to Eurostat. The figure marks a rise of 6 kg compared to 2023 and an overall increase of 38 kg, or 8%, since 2014.

Over the past decade, waste generation has increased in the majority of EU countries, with 20 member states recording rises since 2014. The largest increases were seen in Belgium (+274 kg), Czechia (+228 kg) and Austria (+217 kg).

In contrast, a small number of countries have managed to reduce municipal waste output, including the Netherlands (-54 kg), Denmark (-53 kg) and Finland (-25 kg).

Despite the rise in waste generation, recycling rates have shown modest improvement. In 2024, the EU recycled an average of 248kg of municipal waste per person, representing 48.1% of total waste generated. This is a slight increase from 48.0% in 2023 and an improvement from 43.0% in 2014. Read more here.

Municipal Waste per Capita by EU Member State (kg per person)

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