EU countries by municipal waste recycling rate, 2024
Germany had the highest municipal waste recycling rate of 26 EU countries in 2024, at 69%. Cyprus had the lowest, at 15.8%. The median was 45.8% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 49.4%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.
Map of EU countries, 2024
- Under 33
- 33 to 43
- 43 to 48
- 48 to 57
- 57 and over
- No data
All EU countries, 2024
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2024 (%) | Change on 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 69 | +0.3 pts |
| 2 | Slovenia | 62.4 | +2.6 pts |
| 3 | Austria | 60.7 | -2.1 pts |
| 4 | Netherlands | 58 | +0.1 pts |
| 5 | Belgium | 56.6 | +0.8 pts |
| 6 | Luxembourg | 56.5 | 0 pts |
| 7 | Latvia | 52.7 | +2.1 pts |
| 8 | Lithuania | 52.5 | +3.2 pts |
| 9 | Italy | 52.3 | +1.5 pts |
| 10 | Slovakia | 50.7 | +0.4 pts |
| 11 | Finland | 47.9 | +3.1 pts |
| 12 | Denmark | 46.2 | -0.4 pts |
| 13 | Sweden Series break | 46.1 | +6.7 pts |
| 14 | France Series break | 45.5 | +5.2 pts |
| 15 | Czechia | 44.4 | +0.9 pts |
| 16 | Ireland | 43.1 | +1.2 pts |
| 17 | Spain Estimated | 42.5 | -0.8 pts |
| 18 | Croatia | 36.7 | +0.7 pts |
| 19 | Estonia | 36.4 | -1.5 pts |
| 20 | Hungary | 33.6 | +0.2 pts |
| 21 | Portugal | 32.9 | +2.3 pts |
| 22 | Poland | 31.1 | +3.5 pts |
| 23 | Bulgaria | 21.8 | +5.1 pts |
| 24 | Greece | 17.5 | +0.1 pts |
| 25 | Malta | 16.9 | -0.5 pts |
| 26 | Cyprus Provisional | 15.8 | 0 pts |
Other periods
About this ranking
Municipal waste recycled, including composting and anaerobic digestion, as a percentage of municipal waste generated.
Stricter EU calculation rules apply from reference year 2020 in some countries; Eurostat marks those changes as series breaks.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. 1 EU countries with data in other periods have no value for 2024 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
Eurostat. Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei_wm011/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-15.Citation styles
APA 7
Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011) (EU countries by municipal waste recycling rate, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei_wm011/default/table
MLA 9
Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011), EU countries by municipal waste recycling rate, 2024. Eurostat, European Commission, 15 Oct. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei_wm011/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-recycling-rate/eu-countries. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011). EU countries by municipal waste recycling rate, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei_wm011/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-recycling-rate/eu-countries.
Harvard
Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011), EU countries by municipal waste recycling rate, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei_wm011/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-recycling-rate/eu-countries (Accessed: 15 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_municipal_2024,
author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
title = {{Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei\_wm011): EU countries by municipal waste recycling rate, 2024}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei_wm011/default/table},
urldate = {2026-10-15},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-recycling-rate/eu-countries. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei\_wm011). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei\_wm011/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-15.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - Eurostat, European Commission
TI - Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011): EU countries by municipal waste recycling rate, 2024
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
PB - Eurostat, European Commission
DB - Invokely
UR - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei_wm011/default/table
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-recycling-rate/eu-countries
Y2 - 2026/10/15
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/municipal-waste-recycling-rate/eu-countries.
N1 - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/cei_wm011/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
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Rank EU countries by municipal waste recycling rate using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"municipal_waste_recycling_rate","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=municipal_waste_recycling_rate&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10Questions
Which EU country has the highest municipal waste recycling rate?
Germany, with 69% in 2024, according to Eurostat, European Commission.
Which EU country has the lowest municipal waste recycling rate?
Cyprus, with 15.8% in 2024.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Recycling rate of municipal waste (cei_wm011). Retrieved 2026-10-15. 1 EU countries have no value for 2024 and are not ranked.