How much waste does Denmark produce? For 2026 the figure works out at an estimated 23.8 million tonnes, or roughly 52.5 billion pounds.
Eurostat last measured the total in 2022, also at 23.8 million tonnes, or 4,037 kg per person, below the EU average of 4,981 kg. Danish households, though, produced more waste per person than those of any other EU country.
Danish households produced 552 kg of waste per person in 2022, the most in the EU. The country as a whole still generated less waste per person than the EU average, because most of its 23.8 million tonnes came from building sites rather than homes.
Denmark's waste totals (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 | 23,804,051 | +0.9 million (+3.9%) |
| 2024 | 22,906,008 | -0.9 million (-3.9%) |
| 2022 | 23,828,448 | +3.7 million (+18.3%) |
| 2020 | 20,135,564 | -1.3 million (-6.1%) |
| 2018 | 21,445,206 | +0.5 million (+2.2%) |
| 2016 | 20,981,931 | +0.2 million (+0.8%) |
| 2014 | 20,808,843 | +4.1 million (+24.5%) |
| 2012 | 16,713,822 | +0.5 million (+3.1%) |
| 2010 | 16,217,736 | 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 Denmark's national waste statistics and explained in the next section.
Denmark's total grew by 7.6 million tonnes, or 46.9%, between 2010 and 2022. It moved in two big steps, 2012 to 2014 and 2020 to 2022, with a flat stretch and a dip in between.
Soil explains most of it. The soil Denmark recorded rose by 6.6 million tonnes over those twelve years, more than the whole total's rise, while mixed household-type waste fell by 0.6 million tonnes.
Where Denmark's 2024 and 2026 figures come from
Eurostat's series stops at 2022, but Denmark publishes its own waste statistics every year. The newest edition, from the Danish Energy Agency (Energistyrelsen), runs to 2024 and counts soil separately from all other waste.
The 2024 row moves each of those two parts of Eurostat's 2022 figure by the change the Danish statistics recorded between 2022 and 2024. The table shows the two moves and what they add up to.
| Part of the total | Change 2022-2024 | 2024 estimate (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|
| Soil | -20.5% | 7,657,355 |
| All other waste | +7.4% | 15,248,653 |
| Total | -3.9% | 22,906,008 |
Note: Affaldsstatistik 2024, Danish Energy Agency, applied to Eurostat's 2022 figures of 9,633,009 tonnes of soil and 14,195,439 tonnes of other waste.
The method was tested before it was used. Run from 2020, the Danish statistics put 2022 within 1.1% of the total Eurostat later measured. An earlier edition of the same statistics landed within 4.1% for 2018 and 3.7% for 2020.
Carrying it on to 2026
The Danish statistics stop at 2024, so 2026 rests on two stated assumptions.
- All other waste keeps its recent pace. It grew by 2.0% a year on average between 2020 and 2024, which adds two more years of that growth.
- Soil returns to its usual level. The Danish statistics note that soil swings with large building projects, so it is set at its 2020 to 2024 average rather than at any single year.
Together they give 23.8 million tonnes for 2026, 3.9% more than in 2024 and almost exactly the total Eurostat measured in 2022.
How wide the range is
The range comes from the same two parts. At the low end, soil falls back to its lowest year since 2020 and other waste stops growing, which gives 21.5 million tonnes.
At the high end, soil returns to its 2022 peak and other waste grows as fast as it did from 2022 to 2024, which gives 26.0 million tonnes.
How Denmark sorts and treats its waste
Denmark generated 1.1% of the EU's 2.23 billion tonnes of waste in 2022, the 16th-largest total among the 27 member states. Per person it ranked 15th, below the EU average. One reason is that Denmark has almost no mining waste, which makes up 22.4% of the EU total.
How the waste is handled matters as much as how much there is. The European Environment Agency (EEA), in its March 2025 profile of Denmark, describes a system built around sorting at the door.
- Ten sorted fractions. Households separate food, paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastics, food and drink cartons, textiles, hazardous and residual waste, under rules set in 2020.
- One set of pictograms. Since July 2021 the same symbols and colours mark each fraction across the country, on public and private bins alike. By the end of 2023, 80 of Denmark's 98 municipalities collected all ten.
- No landfill for what can burn or be recycled. Denmark bans landfilling recyclable and combustible waste and taxes what does go to landfill at 475 kroner a tonne, the EEA reports.
Most of what is not recycled is burned for heat and power. In 2020 the government decided to cut the country's incineration capacity by about 30% by 2030, the EEA notes, so that it matches the residual waste expected by then.
Where the rest of Denmark's waste comes from
Counted by who produced it, here is each sector's share of Denmark's 2022 total, set beside the same sector's share across the EU.
| Sector | Denmark | EU |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | 63.1% | 38.7% |
| Households | 13.7% | 8.8% |
| Water, sewerage and waste | 7.3% | 10.5% |
| Services | 6.6% | 4.6% |
| Manufacturing | 4.5% | 10.3% |
| Energy | 3.0% | 3.0% |
| Agriculture | 1.8% | 1.1% |
| Mining | 0.05% | 22.4% |
Note: Eurostat's waste generation collection, 2022 reference year. Shares are rounded, and the Danish lines add up to the full total of 23,828,448 tonnes.
Construction produced 15.0 million tonnes, the sixth-highest construction share in the EU. Mining produced 11,575 tonnes, next to nothing, and manufacturing less than half its EU share.
The soil behind the 2022 jump
Denmark recorded 9.6 million tonnes of soil in 2022, 40.4% of its total against 22.1% across the EU. Most of it is earth dug out on building sites and counted as construction and demolition waste.
Soil also drove the 2022 jump. It rose by 3.5 million tonnes between 2020 and 2022, almost all of the total's 3.7 million tonne rise, while construction waste as a whole grew by 36.4%.
Do Danish households throw out the most in the EU?
On Eurostat's 2024 figures they do. Denmark generated 755 kg of municipal waste per person, against an EU average of 517 kg, the highest of the 20 member states that have reported for 2024.
Seven had not reported yet: Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Austria and Romania. In 2023, when all 27 had, Denmark's 759 kg was second to Austria. Countries also differ in how much commercial waste they count as municipal, so part of any gap is a counting difference.
The packaging Danish producers pay for
Packaging is the part of the pile that extended producer responsibility covers, and the part a company selling into Denmark pays for directly.
Denmark generated 1,144,059 tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, the newest year on record, 1.3% more than in 2022. That works out at 192 kg per person, above the EU average of 178 kg and the fifth-highest of the 23 member states with a figure.
The table below breaks the 2023 total down by material, with the share of each that was recycled.
| Material | Tonnes | Recycled |
|---|---|---|
| Paper and cardboard | 539,221 | 71.8% |
| Plastic | 241,545 | 27.8% |
| Glass | 227,858 | 68.9% |
| Wood | 74,336 | 87.3% |
| Metal | 60,999 | 68.4% |
| Other | 100 | 0.0% |
Note: Eurostat's packaging waste collection, 2023 reference year, with recycling shares calculated on the basis set for the 2025 targets. The six lines add up to the reported total.
Paper and cardboard made up 47.1% of the Danish packaging total. Plastic came second by weight and had by far the lowest recycling rate of the main materials.
Who pays for packaging in Denmark?
Denmark's producer responsibility for packaging is new. The packaging order now in force took effect on 1 October 2025, and from that date Danish municipalities have charged producers for the packaging waste they collect from households.
A company that puts packaging on the Danish market registers with DPA, the Danish EPR register, at least 14 days before its first sale. A producer of single-use packaging joins a producer responsibility organisation, which Danish law calls a collective scheme, no later than at registration.
Producers then report the packaging they put on the market each year by 1 June. A seller in another EU or EEA country shipping straight to Danish end users has to name a Danish authorised representative.
Drinks bottles and cans with a deposit sit outside the packaging order altogether, because Denmark's deposit return scheme covers them. The full set of duties is on the EPR rules for selling into Denmark, and the packaging rules on packaging EPR in Denmark.
Is Denmark on track for the EU packaging targets?
Denmark recycled 62.7% of its packaging in 2023, against 67.4% across the EU. That put it 15th among the 23 member states with a figure for that year. Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Poland had not reported one.
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 Denmark's 2023 rates against both waves.
| Packaging | Targets 2025 / 2030 | Danish rate |
|---|---|---|
| All packaging | 65% / 70% | 62.7% |
| Paper and cardboard | 75% / 85% | 71.8% |
| Glass | 70% / 75% | 68.9% |
| Ferrous metals | 70% / 80% | 61.7% |
| Aluminium | 50% / 60% | 78.0% |
| Wood | 25% / 30% | 87.3% |
| Plastic | 50% / 55% | 27.8% |
Note: Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 52(1). Denmark's rates are Eurostat's, 2023 reference year.
On its 2023 figures Denmark met two of the seven targets due by 2025, aluminium and wood. Glass was 1.1 percentage points short, the overall rate 2.3, paper and cardboard 3.2, ferrous metals 8.3 and plastic 22.2.
Part of the gap is a change in counting. Since 2020, material that is collected but not actually recycled no longer counts as recycled, which pulled Denmark's rates down from 69.3% in 2019 to 64.0% in 2020, as the EEA's profile explains.
Half of Denmark's household waste is burned
Danish municipal waste mostly goes to incineration with energy recovery. The table shows where it went in 2024, beside the EU as a whole.
| What happened to it | Denmark | EU |
|---|---|---|
| Burned for energy | 51.1% | 25.5% |
| Recycled | 46.4% | 48.1% |
| Landfill and other disposal | 2.0% | 21.3% |
Note: Eurostat's municipal waste collection, 2024 reference year, as shares of municipal waste generated. Small amounts handled in other ways are left out, so the columns do not reach 100%.
Only Sweden, at 52.7%, burned a larger share among the 20 member states with 2024 figures. EU rules require the landfilled share to fall to 10% or less by 2035, a level Denmark was already well under.
Producers comparing the tools that prepare their Danish packaging reports can start with the EPR software built for Denmark.
Frequently asked questions about Denmark's waste
Below are the eight questions that come up most often about Denmark's waste figures.
How much waste does Denmark produce each year?
Denmark is estimated to produce around 23.8 million tonnes of waste in 2026, up from 22.9 million in 2024. Eurostat last measured it in 2022, at 23.8 million tonnes, the 16th-largest total in the EU and 4,037 kg per person.
Can Denmark'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 do Danish households produce so much waste?
Danish households produced 552 kg of waste per person in 2022, the most in the EU, against an average of 439 kg. Countries count this waste differently, so part of the gap may be counting rather than what people throw out.
Why did Denmark's waste jump in 2022?
Soil dug out on building sites rose by 3.5 million tonnes between 2020 and 2022. That accounts for almost all of the total's 3.7 million tonne rise, from 20.1 million to 23.8 million tonnes.
How much of Denmark's waste is burned?
In 2024 Denmark burned 51.1% of its municipal waste for heat and power, against 25.5% across the EU, the second-highest share after Sweden. It recycled 46.4% and sent only 2.0% to landfill or other disposal.
How much packaging waste does Denmark generate?
Denmark generated 1,144,059 tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, or 192 kg per person, above the EU average of 178 kg. Paper and cardboard made up 47.1% of it, followed by plastic and glass.
Does Denmark meet the EU packaging recycling targets?
On its 2023 figures Denmark met two of the seven targets due by 2025, aluminium and wood. Its overall rate was 62.7% against a 65% target, and plastic packaging was 22.2 points short at 27.8%.
Are deposit bottles part of packaging EPR in Denmark?
No. Drinks bottles and cans in Denmark's deposit return scheme fall outside the packaging order, so producers do not register them with DPA as packaging. The rest of their packaging, such as cartons and shrink wrap, is covered as normal.
Images: Elgaard
