Filenews 16 February 2021
Almost 225 million tonnes of municipal waste was created in the EU in 2019, according to data published today by Eurostat. This corresponds to 502 kg per person, a slight increase compared to 2018 (495 kg), although it fell from the peak in 2008 (518 kg).
At 844 kg, Denmark produced the most municipal waste per person among EU Member States in 2019.
Other countries that produced more than 600 kg of municipal waste per person were Luxembourg (791 kg), Malta (694 kg), Cyprus (642 kg) and Germany (609 kg). Greece produced 524 kg per person, behind France with 548 kg, Finland with 566, Austria with 588 and Ireland with 598 kg per person.
At the other end of the scale, Romania produced 280 kg of municipal waste per person in 2019. Three other EU Member States also produced less than 400 kg per person: Poland (336 kg), Estonia (369 kg) and Hungary (387 kg).
The amount of recycled waste has reached new levels in 2019. In recent years, the amount of recycled waste (material recycling and composting) has almost tripled from 37 million tonnes (87 kg per person) in 1995 to 107 million tonnes (239 kg per person) ) in 2019.
Since 1995, the amount of municipal waste incinerated in the EU has doubled from 30 million tonnes (70 kg per person) to 60 million tonnes (134 kg per person) in 2019.
Although slightly more waste is produced, the total amount of municipal waste that ends up in landfill in the EU has more than doubled since 1995: From 121 million tonnes (286 kg per person) in 1995 to 54 million tonnes (120 kg per person) in 2019.
Source: CYPE
