EU: municipal waste recycling rate by country 2020

Germany was the top recycler of municipal waste in the European Union in 2020, with an estimated recycling rate of 67 percent. The recycling rates of municipal waste vary greatly throughout the EU, with just eight countries having a recycling rate higher than 50 percent, while countries such as Cyprus, Romania, and Malta have recycling rates lower than 20 percent.

Overall, the recycling rate of municipal waste in the EU was estimated at 47.8 percent in 2020.

Recycling rate of municipal waste in the European Union (EU-27) in 2010 and 2020, by country*

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Release date

April 2022

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Region

Survey time period

2020

Supplementary notes

*These figures are Eurostat estimates and provisional.

According to the source, the indicator presents the the tonnage recycled from municipal waste divided by the total municipal waste arisings. For areas not covered by a municipal waste collection scheme the amount of waste generated is estimated. Recycling includes material recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion. **2011 figure for Denmark was used as 2010 figure was not provided. 2019 figure for Austria was used as 2020 figure was unavailable.

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