Recycling rate of municipal waste in European Union
The European Union recycled 49.4% of its municipal waste in 2024.
European Union is a group: European Union, 27 member states (composition from February 2020). The value is the aggregate published by Eurostat, not an average calculated on this site.
The latest value carries the source flag “Source flag i”.
European Union, 2024
49.4%i (Source flag i)
Change from 2023
+1.5percentage points
Recycling rate of municipal waste in European Union over time
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European Union
The chart loads when you scroll to it. The table below shows the same data.
The chart shows a calculation from the published values. The table below keeps the published values.
% of municipal waste generated. Source: Eurostat. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.
| Period | European Union |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 49.4%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
| 2023 | 47.9% |
| 2022 | 49.1% |
| 2021 | 49.7% |
| 2020 | 48.5% |
| 2019 | 47.2%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
| 2018 | 46.4% |
| 2017 | 46.3% |
| 2016 | 45.9% |
| 2015 | 44.9% |
| 2014 | 43.4% |
| 2013 | 41.5% |
| 2012 | 40.9% |
| 2011 | 38.9% |
| 2010 | 38.0% |
| 2009 | 37.3% |
| 2008 | 36.6% |
| 2007 | 35.2% |
| 2006 | 33.2%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
| 2005 | 32.5%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
| 2004 | 31.8%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
| 2003 | 31.1%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
| 2002 | 30.4%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
| 2001 | 28.7%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
| 2000 | 27.3%i (value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies) |
Flags: i value imputed by Eurostat or other receiving agencies . A dash means no value was published.
In short
- That is a change of +1.5 percentage points from 47.9% in 2023.
- Since 2014, when it was 43.4%, the figure has changed by +6.0 percentage points.
More for European Union
All statistics for European Union
Municipal waste generated per person
513i (Source flag i) kg per person
2024 · Eurostat
Total waste generated per person
4,872i (Source flag i) kg per person
2024 · Eurostat
Basic drinking water access
99.1%
2024 · World Bank
Basic sanitation access
98.5%
2024 · World Bank
Renewable internal freshwater per person
3,041 m³ per person
2022 · World Bank