Recycling rate of municipal waste in the European Union 2010-2022, by country

Germany was the top municipal waste recycler in the European Union in 2022, with an estimated recycling rate of 69.1 percent. Municipal waste recycling rates vary greatly throughout the EU, with just eight Member States recycling more than 50 percent of municipal waste that year. Meanwhile, countries such as Cyprus, Romania, and Malta recorded recycling rates lower than 20 percent. 

Recycling trends in the EU

The municipal waste recycling rate in the EU was estimated at 48.6 percent in 2022, down from a record-high of 49.8 percent recorded in the previous year. Nevertheless, municipal waste recycling rates in the region grew by roughly ten percentage points in the past decade. Slovenia, Slovakia, and Lithuania saw the largest progress in the period, each growing their recycling rates by more than 40 percentage points since 2010. 

World leaders in recycling

European countries have some of the highest recycling rates in the world. Among OECD countries, South Korea was the only non-European country to make the top 10 in terms of recycling rates. In terms of municipal waste recycled per capita, Germany and Denmark also had the highest figures among OECD countries, each with 300 kilograms recycled per person in 2022.