Circular Economy : The amount of waste in EU slightly increased
Half a ton of household waste per capita: each inhabitant of the European Union produced 502 kilograms of waste in 2019, seven kilograms more than a year earlier, according to official statistics. The frontrunners were Denmark with 844 and Luxembourg with 791 kilograms. Austria was well above average with 588 kilograms per person. The figures were given by the EU statistics office Eurostat in Luxembourg on Tuesday. The smallest quantities in the EU had Romania with 280 kilograms.
Behind the Romanians followed Poland (336 kilograms), Estonia (369) and Hungary (387). Eurostat gave the total quantity at 225 million tons. Since the peak value of 518 kilograms per capita in 2008, the average has therefore only decreased slightly.
In contrast, disposal has changed significantly in recent years. For example, the amount of recycled waste increased from 87 kilos per capita in 1995 to 239 kilos in 2019, Eurostat added. The amount of incinerated waste grew from 70 to 134 kilos per person in the same period. In contrast, only half as much waste is disposed of in landfills as in 1995: around 120 kilograms per capita in 2019.