Municipal waste

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. In the European Union, the semantic definition is mixed municipal waste, given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog. Municipal waste consists mainly of waste generated by households, although it also includes similar waste from sources such as shops, offices and public institutions. Although the waste may originate from a number of sources that has nothing to do with a municipality, the traditional role of municipalities in collecting and managing these kinds of waste have produced the particular etymology.

Occurrence and treatment

Municipal waste management in 2018

Area	Municipal waste generated [kg/capita]	Recycling (Material) [%]	Recycling (Composting & digestion) [%]	Disposal (Incineration and energy recovery) [%]	Disposal (Landfill and other) [%]
EU-27	496	30	17	27	24
EU-28	492	30	17	28	23
Belgium	409	34	20	43	1
Bulgaria	407	30	2	7	61
Czechia	494	22	10	17	46
Denmark	814	32	18	49	1
Germany	606	49	18	32	1
Estonia	405	24	4	41	21
Ireland	598	29	8	43	14
Greece	515	15	5	2	78
Spain	475	18	17	12	54
France	535	25	20	34	20
Croatia	432	22	3	0	66
Italy	499	29	21	19	21
Cyprus	646	15	2	1	70
Lativa	407	19	6	2	59
Lithuania	464	24	28	13	25
Luxembourg	803	30	19	47	4
Hungary	381	29	8	13	50
Malta	663	10	0	0	83
Netherlands	511	27	29	43	1
Austria	579	25	32	39	2
Poland	329	26	8	24	42
Portugal	507	12	17	18	48
Romania	272	8	3	4	81
Slovenia	486	43	16	10	10
Slovakia	414	27	9	8	55
Finland	551	29	13	57	1
Sweden	434	30	16	53	1
Iceland	702	0	0	5	60
Norway	739	31	10	51	3
Switzerland	706	31	22	47	0
United Kingdom	463	27	17	41	15
Montenegro	530	5	0	0	88
North Macedonia	412	-	-	-	73
Albania	462	18	-	5	77
Serbia	319	0	0	0	87
Turkey	424	11	0	0	82
Bosnia and Herzegovina	356	-	-	-	76
Kosovo	226	-	-	-	100