What EU country generates the most municipal waste per person?

Austria generates the most municipal waste per capita in the European Union, generating 803 kilograms per person in 2022, Eurostat has revealed.

Other countries to report high municipal waste levels per capita include Denmark (802kg), Luxembourg (721kg), Belgium (690kg), Cyprus (673kg) and Malta (618kg).

At the other end of the spectrum, the countries generating the lowest municipal waste per capita in 2022 included Romania (303kg), Poland (364kg) and Estonia (373kg). No data was available for Czechia and Ireland.

Across the European Union, the amount of municipal waste generated per person stood at 515 kilograms in 2022, which was 23 kilograms less than in 2021.

More recently, in 2023, EU consumers generated 511 kilograms per person.

Recycling data

In terms of recycling, meanwhile, in 2023 the EU recycled an average of 246 kilograms per person, which means that 48% of the municipal waste generated went on to be recycled, Eurostat‘s data found.

This compares with 37.2% ten years earlier, in 2013, when 199 kilograms per person was recycled.

Also in 2023, 129 kilograms per person was incinerated (equating to 25.2% of the total amount of waste generated) and 115 kilograms per person went to landfill (22.5%). Read more here.

Municipal waste generated per capita, 2022

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