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 2018, at 814 kg per person. Romania had the lowest, at 272 kg per person. The median was 494 kg per person and the figure for the European Union (27) was 501 kg per person. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest814Denmark
Lowest272Romania
Median49427 EU countries
European Union (27)501History

Map of EU countries, 2018

Austria: 579 kg per personBelgium: 409 kg per personBulgaria: 426 kg per personCyprus: 651 kg per personCzechia: 494 kg per personGermany: 606 kg per personDenmark: 814 kg per personEstonia: 405 kg per personSpain: 475 kg per personFinland: 551 kg per personFrance: 557 kg per personGreece: 519 kg per personCroatia: 443 kg per personHungary: 384 kg per personIreland: 595 kg per personItaly: 504 kg per personLithuania: 461 kg per personLuxembourg: 803 kg per personLatvia: 407 kg per personMalta: 673 kg per personNetherlands: 511 kg per personPoland: 329 kg per personPortugal: 504 kg per personRomania: 272 kg per personSweden: 434 kg per personSlovenia: 486 kg per personSlovakia: 414 kg per person
  • Under 410
  • 410 to 470
  • 470 to 510
  • 510 to 590
  • 590 and over
kg per person, 2018. Source: Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste management operations, waste generated, kilograms per capita (env_wasmun). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2018

Denmark: 814 kg per personDenmark814Luxembourg: 803 kg per personLuxembourg803Malta: 673 kg per personMalta673Cyprus: 651 kg per personCyprus651Germany: 606 kg per personGermany606Ireland: 595 kg per personIreland595Austria: 579 kg per personAustria579France: 557 kg per personFrance557Finland: 551 kg per personFinland551Greece: 519 kg per personGreece519Netherlands: 511 kg per personNetherlands511Italy: 504 kg per personItaly504Portugal: 504 kg per personPortugal504Czechia: 494 kg per personCzechia494Slovenia: 486 kg per personSlovenia486Spain: 475 kg per personSpain475Lithuania: 461 kg per personLithuania461Croatia: 443 kg per personCroatia443Sweden: 434 kg per personSweden434Bulgaria: 426 kg per personBulgaria426Slovakia: 414 kg per personSlovakia414Belgium: 409 kg per personBelgium409Latvia: 407 kg per personLatvia407Estonia: 405 kg per personEstonia405Hungary: 384 kg per personHungary384Poland: 329 kg per personPoland329Romania: 272 kg per personRomania272Denmark: 814 kg per personDenmark814Luxembourg: 803 kg per personLuxembourg803Malta: 673 kg per personMalta673Cyprus: 651 kg per personCyprus651Germany: 606 kg per personGermany606Ireland: 595 kg per personIreland595Austria: 579 kg per personAustria579France: 557 kg per personFrance557Finland: 551 kg per personFinland551Greece: 519 kg per personGreece519Netherlands: 511 kg per personNetherlands511Italy: 504 kg per personItaly504Portugal: 504 kg per personPortugal504Czechia: 494 kg per personCzechia494Slovenia: 486 kg per personSlovenia486Spain: 475 kg per personSpain475Lithuania: 461 kg per personLithuania461Croatia: 443 kg per personCroatia443Sweden: 434 kg per personSweden434Bulgaria: 426 kg per personBulgaria426Slovakia: 414 kg per personSlovakia414Belgium: 409 kg per personBelgium409Latvia: 407 kg per personLatvia407Estonia: 405 kg per personEstonia405Hungary: 384 kg per personHungary384Poland: 329 kg per personPoland329Romania: 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 countries2018
kg per person		Change on 2017
1Denmark814-0.7%
2Luxembourg803+0.6%
3Malta673+0.9%
4Cyprus651+3.2%
5Germany606-3.3%
6Ireland595+3.8%
7Austria579+1.6%
8France Estimated557-0.2%
9Finland551+8%
10Greece519+2.4%
11Netherlands511-0.4%
12Italy504+2.2%
12Portugal504+4.1%
14Czechia494+1%
15Slovenia486+3.2%
16Spain475+0.4%
17Lithuania461+1.8%
18Croatia443+4.5%
19Sweden434-4%
20Bulgaria426-6%
21Slovakia414+9.5%
22Belgium409-0.5%
23Latvia407-1%
24Estonia405+3.8%
25Hungary384-0.8%
26Poland329+4.4%
27Romania2720%

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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_municipal_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-per-capita/eu-countries?period=2018.
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 814 kg per person in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Romania, with 272 kg per person in 2018.

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