Nature and Biodiversity

How much waste does Europe produce?

A dozer shoves garbagge containing plastic materials at a dumping ground.

Image: REUTERS/Petr Josek

Arwen Armbrecht
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

The average amount of waste generated per person in the European Union was 475 kg in 2014. The good news is that nearly 100% of that waste was treated to ensure it has the least possible impact on the environment, and 44% of it was either recycled or composted.

Even better news: the latest data, release by Eurostat, shows that things are improving. The 2014 average is down a good 10% from the EU's peak in 2002, when the average citizen was generating 527 kg annually.

Image: Eurostat

Worrying amounts of Western waste

The national data on waste generated per person varies greatly. Western Europe lead the EU by a significant amount. The worst offender was Denmark, whose average citizen generated just under 800 kg of waste in 2014. Cyprus, Germany and Luxembourg were next, all producing over 600 kg of waste per person. Malta, Ireland (based on 2013 data), Austria, the Netherlands, France and Greece all produced above-average amounts of waste, between 500 kg and 600 kg per person.

On the opposite end, many Eastern European nations were significantly below average. Romania (based on 2013 data), Poland, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia all produced less than 300 kg of waste per citizen.

The rise of recycling

As well as producing less waste, Europeans are also getting better at recycling the waste they do produce. In 1995, only 17% of waste was recycled, but by 2014, that figure was up to 44%. The leaders in recycling are Slovenia and Germany, where nearly half of all municipal waste is recycled.

Have you read?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Future of the Environment

Related topics:
Nature and BiodiversityUrban Transformation
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Future of the Environment is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Indoor air pollution: What causes it and how to tackle it

World Economic Forum

November 29, 2024

What are keystone species, and why do they matter?

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum