How much waste does Belgium produce? For 2026 the figure works out at an estimated 62.4 million tonnes, or roughly 137 billion pounds.
The last year anyone measured is 2022, when Belgium generated 61.6 million tonnes. More than a fifth of it came from the businesses that collect, sort and treat waste, more than twice their share across the EU.
Belgium recycled 79.7% of its packaging in 2023, the highest rate of any EU country with a figure that year. It still generated 61.6 million tonnes of waste in 2022, because a recycling rate measures what happens to waste after it is thrown away, not how much is thrown away.
How much waste Belgium generated (2010-2026)
Eurostat measures national waste every two years, so the table runs on even years, carried forward from 2022 to 2026, with each change measured against the previous reading.
| Year | Tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 62,350,324 | +0.3 million (+0.5%) |
| 2024 | 62,016,498 | +0.4 million (+0.6%) |
| 2022 | 61,617,737 | -6.4 million (-9.5%) |
| 2020 | 68,061,590 | -0.1 million (-0.2%) |
| 2018 | 68,187,479 | +5.0 million (+8.0%) |
| 2016 | 63,152,384 | +5.2 million (+8.9%) |
| 2014 | 57,965,392 | +4.1 million (+7.7%) |
| 2012 | 53,839,470 | -7.5 million (-12.2%) |
| 2010 | 61,345,803 | baseline |
Note: Eurostat's waste generation collection, covering all economic activities plus households. 2022 is the newest year it has published, so the 2024 and 2026 rows are our own estimates, built on construction output, municipal waste and population and explained in the next section.
After a dip in 2012, Belgium's total climbed for six years to 68.2 million tonnes in 2018, held there in 2020 and then fell back by almost a tenth. The 2022 figure is almost exactly where the line stood in 2010.
What moved between 2020 and 2022
The 6.4 million tonne fall was not one sector shrinking. Two large lines dropped and two others grew, and the difference between them is the fall.
- Manufacturing. Down 7.0 million tonnes, from 14.2 million to 7.2 million, a fall of 49.1%.
- Waste and water services. Down 6.3 million tonnes, from 21.4 million to 15.1 million, a fall of 29.5%.
- Construction. Up 5.2 million tonnes, from 20.7 million to 25.9 million, a rise of 25.2%.
- Services. Up 2.5 million tonnes, from 3.8 million to 6.3 million, a rise of 64.7%.
Over the same two years Eurostat's index of Belgian manufacturing output rose 27.1%, so the halving of manufacturing waste did not follow factory activity. Neither Eurostat nor the European Environment Agency (EEA) gives a reason for it, so this page does not guess one.
Where Belgium's 2024 and 2026 estimates come from
Eurostat's series stops at 2022, and so does Flanders' own count of business waste. The two newest rows in the table therefore move Eurostat's 2022 figure by measured indicators that run further, one for each of three parts.
- Soil, stone and other mineral waste moves with Eurostat's index of Belgian construction output, since most of it comes from building sites.
- Household and similar waste moves with Belgium's municipal waste count, which Eurostat publishes up to 2024.
- All other waste moves with the population, with the amount per person held at its 2022 level.
The table shows how far each part moved between 2022 and 2024 and what they add up to.
| Part of the total | Change 2022-2024 | 2024 estimate (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|
| Soil, stone and other mineral waste | -0.8% | 27,802,326 |
| Household and similar waste | +3.0% | 4,431,842 |
| All other waste | +1.7% | 29,782,330 |
| Total | +0.6% | 62,016,498 |
Note: Eurostat's construction output index, municipal waste count (provisional for 2024) and population on 1 January, applied to its 2022 figures of 28,034,519, 4,303,615 and 29,279,603 tonnes for the three parts.
The method was tested on years Eurostat has already measured. Run from 2018 it put 2020 2.5% too low, run from 2020 it put 2022 13.2% too high, and run from 2018 straight to 2022 it came out 10.7% too high.
Almost all of that miss sits in the non-mineral waste, which fell 19.0% between 2020 and 2022 while the population barely moved. The mineral part, moved by construction output, landed within 2.8% of the measured figure each time.
Before 2020 the population stood in for the municipal waste count in that test, because Belgium changed what it counts as municipal waste that year.
Taking the estimate on to 2026
The municipal waste count stops at 2024, so 2026 rests on two stated assumptions.
- Construction keeps its 2026 pace so far. Belgian construction output from January to July 2026 averaged 1.1% below 2022, and mineral waste moves by the same amount.
- Everything else grows with the population. Belgium's population grew 1.2% between January 2024 and January 2026, and household and other waste move by the same amount, with waste per person held at its 2024 level.
Together they give 62.4 million tonnes for 2026, 0.5% more than in 2024 and 1.2% more than Eurostat measured in 2022.
How wide the range is
The method has missed in both directions. Over the three four-year stretches Eurostat has measured since 2014, it came out between 13.8% too low and 10.7% too high.
Applying those two misses to the 2026 figure puts Belgium's total between 56.3 million and 72.3 million tonnes.
How waste is organised in Belgium
In Belgium, waste is mainly a matter for its three regions, Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region, and each writes its own waste rules.
Packaging is the exception. The three regions run it together under the Cooperation Agreement of 4 November 2008, through a joint commission and two producer schemes, one for household packaging and one for commercial and industrial packaging.
Five figures place Belgium in the European picture, each with the year it describes.
- Population. 11.7 million in 2022.
- Total waste. 61.6 million tonnes in 2022, the 12th-largest total in the EU and 2.8% of the EU's 2.23 billion tonnes.
- Per person. 5,275 kg in 2022, the 10th-highest of the 27 member states, against an EU average of 4,981 kg.
- Packaging. 2.0 million tonnes in 2023, the seventh-largest packaging total in the EU.
- Packaging recycled. 79.7% in 2023, the highest rate in the EU.
So Belgium sits a little above the EU average per person and near the middle on its total. Part of any gap between two countries is also down to how each one counts its waste, so the per-person order is a rough guide rather than a league table.
Which sectors produce Belgium's waste?
Counted by who produced it, here is each sector's share of Belgium's 2022 total, set beside its share across the EU as a whole.
| Sector | Belgium | EU |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | 42.1% | 38.7% |
| Waste and water services | 24.5% | 10.5% |
| Manufacturing | 11.8% | 10.3% |
| Services | 10.2% | 4.6% |
| Households | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Waste and scrap trading | 3.0% | 0.5% |
| Farming, energy and mining | 0.7% | 26.5% |
Note: Eurostat's waste generation collection, 2022 reference year. Shares are rounded, and the Belgian lines add up to the full total of 61,617,737 tonnes.
Construction and demolition is the largest single source, 25.9 million tonnes, close to its share across the EU. What sets Belgium apart is further down the table.
Why Belgium's waste industry makes a fifth of the total
The businesses that collect, sort and treat waste also produce waste of their own, in the scrap, residues and sorted fractions that leave their plants. In Belgium that came to 12.9 million tonnes in 2022, 20.9% of the national total, against 9.2% across the EU.
Only Latvia and Lithuania recorded a higher share among the 27 member states. The largest single item was 4.1 million tonnes of scrap iron and steel, followed by 1.5 million tonnes of residues left over after sorting.
Water supply, sewerage and site clean-up make up the rest of the 24.5% line in the table. Traders in waste and scrap added another 1.8 million tonnes, a share more than five times the EU's, so waste handling and trading together came to almost a quarter of Belgium's total.
Almost no mining waste
Mining and quarrying produced 22.4% of all waste recorded in the EU in 2022. In Belgium they produced 11,891 tonnes, 0.02% of the total, which is one reason the Belgian mix looks so different from the EU's.
Why Belgian household waste jumped in 2020
Municipal waste is the slice most readers picture, the household bins plus similar waste from shops and offices. Belgium generated 699 kg of municipal waste per person in 2024, a provisional figure, against an EU average of 517 kg.
That looks high, but most of the gap is counting. Until 2019 Belgium reported household waste only. From 2020 it also counted similar waste from businesses, which took the figure from 416 kg per person in 2019 to 729 kg in 2020, as the EEA's Belgium profile notes.
Belgian households did not suddenly throw out 75% more. Countries still differ in how much commercial waste they count as municipal, so part of any gap between two of them is a counting difference.
The packaging slice of Belgium's waste
Packaging is the part of the pile that extended producer responsibility covers, and the part a company selling into Belgium pays for directly.
Belgium generated 1,963,935 tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, the newest year on record, 0.6% more than in 2022. That works out at 167 kg per person, below the EU average of 178 kg.
The table below breaks the 2023 total down by material, with the share of each that was recycled.
| Material | Tonnes | Recycled |
|---|---|---|
| Paper and cardboard | 789,675 | 83.9% |
| Glass | 415,246 | 92.9% |
| Plastic | 353,074 | 59.5% |
| Wood | 281,071 | 69.2% |
| Metal | 115,500 | 96.8% |
| Other | 9,370 | 36.8% |
Note: Eurostat's packaging waste collection, 2023 reference year, with recycling shares calculated on the basis set for the 2025 targets. The six lines match the reported total to within one tonne.
Paper and cardboard made up 40.2% of the Belgian packaging total. Glass came second, and 92.9% of it was recycled.
Who pays for packaging in Belgium?
Household packaging goes through Fost Plus, and commercial and industrial packaging through Valipac. A company with both kinds joins both, and each scheme charges its members by the packaging they put on the market.
The joint commission above them is EPRiBEL, known as IVC/CIE until April 2026. It is building Belgium's packaging producer register, and the schemes will register their members there once it opens. Declarations are due by 28 February of the following year.
Since 12 August 2026 a seller abroad shipping straight to Belgian end users is the producer and has to appoint an authorised representative for EPR. Selling to Belgian businesses, the Belgian customer is usually the producer.
The full set of duties is on the EPR rules for selling into Belgium, and the packaging rules in detail on packaging EPR in Belgium.
Belgium's lead on packaging recycling
Belgium recycled 79.7% of its packaging in 2023, against 67.4% across the EU. That was the highest rate among the 23 member states with a figure for that year, ahead of the Netherlands (75.8%), Italy (75.6%) and Czechia (74.8%). Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Poland had not reported one.
Plastic is where the lead is widest. Belgium recycled 59.5% of its plastic packaging, the highest rate in the EU, against 41.7% on average. Most of the rest, 40.3% of the total, was burned for energy recovery, and a third of the recycled plastic was processed in Belgium itself.
The EU packaging regulation sets recycling targets in its Article 52, one wave due by the end of 2025 and one by the end of 2030. The table sets Belgium's 2023 rates against both waves.
| Packaging | Targets 2025 / 2030 | Belgian rate |
|---|---|---|
| All packaging | 65% / 70% | 79.7% |
| Paper and cardboard | 75% / 85% | 83.9% |
| Glass | 70% / 75% | 92.9% |
| Ferrous metals | 70% / 80% | 99.6% |
| Aluminium | 50% / 60% | 90.6% |
| Wood | 25% / 30% | 69.2% |
| Plastic | 50% / 55% | 59.5% |
Note: Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 52(1). Belgium's rates are Eurostat's, 2023 reference year.
On its 2023 figures Belgium already met all seven targets for 2025 and six of the seven for 2030. The one short of 2030 was paper and cardboard, at 83.9% against 85%, a gap of 1.1 percentage points.
Next to nothing goes to landfill
Household-type waste tells the same story. In 2024 Belgium sent 0.1% of its municipal waste to landfill, against 21.3% across the EU. It recycled 56.2% and burned 43.7% for energy, against the EU's 48.1% and 25.5%.
EU rules require the landfilled share to fall to 10% or less by 2035, a level Belgium was already far under in 2024. Producers comparing the tools that prepare their Fost Plus and Valipac declarations can start with the EPR software built for Belgium.
Frequently asked questions about Belgium's waste
Below are the eight questions that come up most often about Belgium's waste figures.
How much waste does Belgium produce each year?
Belgium is estimated to produce around 62.4 million tonnes of waste in 2026. Eurostat last measured it in 2022, at 61.6 million tonnes, the 12th-largest total in the EU and 5,275 kg per person against an EU average of 4,981 kg.
Can Belgium's waste be compared with other countries?
Only with care. Eurostat notes that differences between countries reflect consumption and wealth but also how much commercial and administrative waste each one counts as municipal, so part of any gap between two countries is counting practice rather than rubbish.
Why does Belgium's waste industry produce so much waste?
The businesses that collect, sort and treat waste also generate waste of their own, such as sorted scrap and sorting residues. In Belgium they produced 12.9 million tonnes in 2022, 20.9% of the total, the third-highest share in the EU.
Why did Belgian municipal waste per person jump in 2020?
Belgium changed what it counts. Until 2019 it reported household waste only, and from 2020 it added similar waste from businesses, which lifted the figure from 416 kg to 729 kg per person. Households did not suddenly throw out 75% more.
How much packaging waste does Belgium generate?
Belgium generated 1,963,935 tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, or 167 kg per person, below the EU average of 178 kg. Paper and cardboard made up 40.2% of it, followed by glass and plastic.
Does Belgium recycle more packaging than other EU countries?
Yes. Belgium recycled 79.7% of its packaging in 2023, the highest rate among the 23 member states that reported one, against an EU average of 67.4%. Its plastic packaging rate of 59.5% was also the highest in the EU.
Does Belgium meet the EU packaging recycling targets?
On its 2023 figures Belgium met all seven targets due by 2025 and six of the seven due by 2030. Paper and cardboard was the exception for 2030, at 83.9% against a target of 85%.
Who runs packaging EPR in Belgium?
Fost Plus handles household packaging and Valipac commercial and industrial packaging, under EPRiBEL, the joint commission of Belgium's three regions. Declarations are due by 28 February, and the schemes will register their members in EPRiBEL's register once it opens.
Images: Trainsgender
