Data / Rankings / Municipal waste generated per person / EU countries

EU countries by municipal waste generated per person

Denmark had the highest municipal waste generated per person of 27 EU countries in 2016, at 830 kg per person. Romania had the lowest, at 261 kg per person. The median was 464 kg per person and the figure for the European Union (27) was 494 kg per person. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest830Denmark
Lowest261Romania
Median46427 EU countries
European Union (27)494History

Map of EU countries, 2016

Austria: 564 kg per personBelgium: 419 kg per personBulgaria: 418 kg per personCyprus: 638 kg per personCzechia: 339 kg per personGermany: 633 kg per personDenmark: 830 kg per personEstonia: 376 kg per personSpain: 464 kg per personFinland: 504 kg per personFrance: 553 kg per personGreece: 501 kg per personCroatia: 409 kg per personHungary: 381 kg per personIreland: 580 kg per personItaly: 501 kg per personLithuania: 442 kg per personLuxembourg: 815 kg per personLatvia: 410 kg per personMalta: 643 kg per personNetherlands: 520 kg per personPoland: 307 kg per personPortugal: 472 kg per personRomania: 261 kg per personSweden: 447 kg per personSlovenia: 457 kg per personSlovakia: 348 kg per person
  • Under 390
  • 390 to 440
  • 440 to 500
  • 500 to 580
  • 580 and over
kg per person, 2016. Source: Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2016

Denmark: 830 kg per personDenmark830Luxembourg: 815 kg per personLuxembourg815Malta: 643 kg per personMalta643Cyprus: 638 kg per personCyprus638Germany: 633 kg per personGermany633Ireland: 580 kg per personIreland580Austria: 564 kg per personAustria564France: 553 kg per personFrance553Netherlands: 520 kg per personNetherlands520Finland: 504 kg per personFinland504Greece: 501 kg per personGreece501Italy: 501 kg per personItaly501Portugal: 472 kg per personPortugal472Spain: 464 kg per personSpain464Slovenia: 457 kg per personSlovenia457Sweden: 447 kg per personSweden447Lithuania: 442 kg per personLithuania442Belgium: 419 kg per personBelgium419Bulgaria: 418 kg per personBulgaria418Latvia: 410 kg per personLatvia410Croatia: 409 kg per personCroatia409Hungary: 381 kg per personHungary381Estonia: 376 kg per personEstonia376Slovakia: 348 kg per personSlovakia348Czechia: 339 kg per personCzechia339Poland: 307 kg per personPoland307Romania: 261 kg per personRomania261Denmark: 830 kg per personDenmark830Luxembourg: 815 kg per personLuxembourg815Malta: 643 kg per personMalta643Cyprus: 638 kg per personCyprus638Germany: 633 kg per personGermany633Ireland: 580 kg per personIreland580Austria: 564 kg per personAustria564France: 553 kg per personFrance553Netherlands: 520 kg per personNetherlands520Finland: 504 kg per personFinland504Greece: 501 kg per personGreece501Italy: 501 kg per personItaly501Portugal: 472 kg per personPortugal472Spain: 464 kg per personSpain464Slovenia: 457 kg per personSlovenia457Sweden: 447 kg per personSweden447Lithuania: 442 kg per personLithuania442Belgium: 419 kg per personBelgium419Bulgaria: 418 kg per personBulgaria418Latvia: 410 kg per personLatvia410Croatia: 409 kg per personCroatia409Hungary: 381 kg per personHungary381Estonia: 376 kg per personEstonia376Slovakia: 348 kg per personSlovakia348Czechia: 339 kg per personCzechia339Poland: 307 kg per personPoland307Romania: 261 kg per personRomania261
kg per person. Source: Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2016
kg per person		Change on 2015
1Denmark830+1%
2Luxembourg Series break815+34.3%
3Malta6430%
4Cyprus638+1.9%
5Germany633+0.2%
6Ireland580n/a
7Austria564+0.7%
8France Estimated553+7.2%
9Netherlands520-0.6%
10Finland504+0.8%
11Greece501+2.2%
11Italy501+2.2%
13Portugal472+2.8%
14Spain464+1.8%
15Slovenia457+1.8%
16Sweden447-0.9%
17Lithuania442-1.1%
18Belgium419+1.7%
19Bulgaria418-3%
20Latvia410+1.5%
21Croatia409+2.8%
22Hungary381+0.5%
23Estonia376+4.7%
24Slovakia348+5.8%
25Czechia339+7.3%
26Poland Estimated307+7.3%
27Romania261+5.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Municipal waste generated in the year, in kilograms per inhabitant: household waste and similar waste from shops, offices and public institutions, collected by or for municipalities.

Countries differ in how much commercial waste they count as municipal, which explains part of the gap between them.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun) (EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table

MLA 9

Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun), EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2016. Eurostat, European Commission, 30 Mar. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2016.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun), EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_municipal_2016,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env\_wasmun): EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env\_wasmun). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env\_wasmun/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun): EU countries by municipal waste generated per person, 2016
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/30
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasmun/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which EU country has the highest municipal waste generated per person?

Denmark, with 830 kg per person in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest municipal waste generated per person?

Romania, with 261 kg per person in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

EU countries: more rankings