
Annual municipal waste generated per capita by OECD countries 2022
Richer countries tend to produce about 34 percent of the world’s waste, yet only make up about 16 percent of the population. Waste generation is expected to increase worldwide. Although low-income regions currently tend to generate a lower amount of waste than higher-income regions, the growth in waste generation is projected to increase much faster in low-income regions. In many low-income regions, the majority of the waste that is produced tends to be mismanaged. Open dumpsites can be dangerous when landslides occur, or waterways are polluted. Without improvement in the management of waste and available waste infrastructure, the amount of waste that is predicted to pollute the terrestrial and marine environments is expected to rise.
The United States and Denmark are two of the largest per capita generators of municipal solid waste worldwide. On average, citizens in these countries produce more than 800 kilograms of waste per year.