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 2017, at 820 kg per person. Romania had the lowest, at 272 kg per person. The median was 484 kg per person and the figure for the European Union (27) was 500 kg per person. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest820Denmark
Lowest272Romania
Median48427 EU countries
European Union (27)500History

Map of EU countries, 2017

Austria: 570 kg per personBelgium: 411 kg per personBulgaria: 453 kg per personCyprus: 631 kg per personCzechia: 489 kg per personGermany: 627 kg per personDenmark: 820 kg per personEstonia: 390 kg per personSpain: 473 kg per personFinland: 510 kg per personFrance: 558 kg per personGreece: 507 kg per personCroatia: 424 kg per personHungary: 387 kg per personIreland: 573 kg per personItaly: 493 kg per personLithuania: 453 kg per personLuxembourg: 798 kg per personLatvia: 411 kg per personMalta: 667 kg per personNetherlands: 513 kg per personPoland: 315 kg per personPortugal: 484 kg per personRomania: 272 kg per personSweden: 452 kg per personSlovenia: 471 kg per personSlovakia: 378 kg per person
  • Under 410
  • 410 to 460
  • 460 to 500
  • 500 to 570
  • 570 and over
kg per person, 2017. Source: Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2017

Denmark: 820 kg per personDenmark820Luxembourg: 798 kg per personLuxembourg798Malta: 667 kg per personMalta667Cyprus: 631 kg per personCyprus631Germany: 627 kg per personGermany627Ireland: 573 kg per personIreland573Austria: 570 kg per personAustria570France: 558 kg per personFrance558Netherlands: 513 kg per personNetherlands513Finland: 510 kg per personFinland510Greece: 507 kg per personGreece507Italy: 493 kg per personItaly493Czechia: 489 kg per personCzechia489Portugal: 484 kg per personPortugal484Spain: 473 kg per personSpain473Slovenia: 471 kg per personSlovenia471Bulgaria: 453 kg per personBulgaria453Lithuania: 453 kg per personLithuania453Sweden: 452 kg per personSweden452Croatia: 424 kg per personCroatia424Belgium: 411 kg per personBelgium411Latvia: 411 kg per personLatvia411Estonia: 390 kg per personEstonia390Hungary: 387 kg per personHungary387Slovakia: 378 kg per personSlovakia378Poland: 315 kg per personPoland315Romania: 272 kg per personRomania272Denmark: 820 kg per personDenmark820Luxembourg: 798 kg per personLuxembourg798Malta: 667 kg per personMalta667Cyprus: 631 kg per personCyprus631Germany: 627 kg per personGermany627Ireland: 573 kg per personIreland573Austria: 570 kg per personAustria570France: 558 kg per personFrance558Netherlands: 513 kg per personNetherlands513Finland: 510 kg per personFinland510Greece: 507 kg per personGreece507Italy: 493 kg per personItaly493Czechia: 489 kg per personCzechia489Portugal: 484 kg per personPortugal484Spain: 473 kg per personSpain473Slovenia: 471 kg per personSlovenia471Bulgaria: 453 kg per personBulgaria453Lithuania: 453 kg per personLithuania453Sweden: 452 kg per personSweden452Croatia: 424 kg per personCroatia424Belgium: 411 kg per personBelgium411Latvia: 411 kg per personLatvia411Estonia: 390 kg per personEstonia390Hungary: 387 kg per personHungary387Slovakia: 378 kg per personSlovakia378Poland: 315 kg per personPoland315Romania: 272 kg per personRomania272
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 countries2017
kg per person		Change on 2016
1Denmark820-1.2%
2Luxembourg798-2.1%
3Malta667+3.7%
4Cyprus631-1.1%
5Germany627-0.9%
6Ireland573-1.2%
7Austria570+1.1%
8France Estimated558+0.9%
9Netherlands513-1.3%
10Finland510+1.2%
11Greece507+1.2%
12Italy493-1.6%
13Czechia Series break489+44.2%
14Portugal484+2.5%
15Spain473+1.9%
16Slovenia471+3.1%
17Bulgaria453+8.4%
17Lithuania453+2.5%
19Sweden452+1.1%
20Croatia424+3.7%
21Belgium411-1.9%
21Latvia411+0.2%
23Estonia390+3.7%
24Hungary387+1.6%
25Slovakia378+8.6%
26Poland Estimated315+2.6%
27Romania272+4.2%

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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_municipal_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2017.
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 820 kg per person in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Romania, with 272 kg per person in 2017.

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