Norway's waste comes to an estimated 13.1 million tonnes in 2026, or roughly 28.9 billion pounds, counting every business and household in the country.
So how much waste does Norway produce on the official count? In 2022 it generated 14.0 million tonnes, or 2,573 kg per person. That was about half the EU average, because mining, a fifth of the EU's waste, made up only 1.6% of Norway's.
Norway landfilled 2.8% of its municipal waste in 2024, against 21.3% across the EU. Each resident still generated 716 kg of it, above the EU's 517 kg, because where waste ends up says nothing about how much there is.
Norway's waste totals (2010-2026)
Eurostat measures national waste every two years, so the table runs on even years from 2010 to 2022 and is carried forward to 2026, with each change set against the reading before.
| Year | Tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13,105,422 | -0.2 million (-1.3%) |
| 2024 | 13,279,291 | -0.8 million (-5.4%) |
| 2022 | 14,043,078 | +2,415 tonnes (+0.0%) |
| 2020 | 14,040,663 | -0.1 million (-0.7%) |
| 2018 | 14,137,718 | +3.0 million (+27.0%) |
| 2016 | 11,131,594 | +0.5 million (+4.9%) |
| 2014 | 10,614,914 | -0.1 million (-1.0%) |
| 2012 | 10,721,599 | +1.3 million (+13.7%) |
| 2010 | 9,432,997 | baseline |
Note: Eurostat's waste generation collection, covering all economic activities plus households. 2022 is the newest year published, so the 2024 and 2026 rows are our estimates.
Why Norway's total jumped in 2018
Soil dug up on building sites first appears in Eurostat's Norwegian figures in 2018, at 2.7 million tonnes. In 2016 it was counted at 42,613 tonnes.
Take the soil out and Norway's waste grew 3.1% between 2016 and 2018, not 27.0%.
So read the 2018 step as a change in what was counted, and compare years from 2018 onward with each other.
Building Norway's 2026 figure from its own waste count
Eurostat's series stops at 2022. Statistics Norway (SSB) keeps its own yearly waste account, split by where the waste comes from, and that account already runs to 2024. Its total, soil included, fell 5.5% between 2022 and 2024.
We moved each part of Eurostat's 2022 total with the matching line in the SSB account up to 2024. After that, each part carries on at its average yearly change from 2020 to 2024, and household waste moves with Norway's population, which grew 1.4% between January 2024 and January 2026.
| Part of the total | Change 2022-2024 | 2026 estimate (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | -2.5% | 5,048,116 |
| Services | -5.1% | 2,481,424 |
| Households | -1.8% | 2,227,256 |
| Manufacturing | -9.4% | 1,807,948 |
| Everything else | -14.6% | 1,540,678 |
| Total | -5.4% | 13,105,422 |
Note: Statistics Norway's waste account by source, published March 2026, and Eurostat's population count, applied to Eurostat's 2022 waste figures. Construction includes the soil SSB books as unspecified.
How close the method came on past Norwegian figures
Run on the years Eurostat has measured, with soil left out of the years before it was counted, the method came within 4.6% every time. Over four-year stretches it overshot by between 0.9% and 4.5%.
Those misses all lean high, so the range leans low.
- Low end, 12.5 million tonnes. The estimate is 4.5% too high, the most it overshot over four measured years.
- High end, 15.1 million tonnes. Every part of the total returns to its highest level in SSB's count between 2020 and 2024.
Norway sits outside the EU but inside its waste figures
Norway is not an EU member, but Eurostat publishes its waste figures in the same series as the 27 member states. That is why they can sit side by side.
At 2,573 kg per person in 2022, Norway generated about half the EU average of 4,981 kg. Leave out soil, rock and other mineral waste and the gap almost closes, at 1,618 kg in Norway against 1,771 kg across the EU.
Norway's membership of the European Economic Area (EEA), rather than the EU, decides which packaging rules apply there.
- EU law arrives later. An EU law applies in Norway only once it is taken into the EEA Agreement. The EU's new packaging regulation (PPWR), which applies in EU countries from 12 August 2026, is still being assessed for that.
- Norway's own rules apply meanwhile. Until then, packaging is governed by chapter 7 of Norway's waste regulations, which was rewritten on 1 July 2025 and sets its own recycling targets.
Which Norwegian sectors produce the waste?
Construction is Norway's largest source, as it is across the EU. What sets Norway apart is the near absence of mining waste and the size of its services and household shares.
Here is how Norway's 2022 total split by sector, with each sector's share beside it.
| Sector | Tonnes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | 5,512,320 | 39.3% |
| Services | 2,450,777 | 17.5% |
| Households | 2,236,318 | 15.9% |
| Manufacturing | 1,945,670 | 13.9% |
| Waste and water services | 1,219,860 | 8.7% |
| Energy | 287,112 | 2.0% |
| Mining and quarrying | 220,433 | 1.6% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 170,588 | 1.2% |
Note: Eurostat's waste generation collection, 2022 reference year. The eight lines add up to the total exactly.
Across the EU, mining and quarrying produced 22.4% of all waste in 2022. Eurostat's mining sector also covers oil and gas extraction, and in Norway it still made up only 1.6%.
Services produced 17.5% of Norway's waste, against 5.2% across the EU, and households 15.9%, against 8.8%. With so little mining waste, everyday activity takes a far larger share of the total.
Construction is Norway's largest source of waste
Norway reported 5.5 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste in 2022. Soil made up 2.3 million tonnes of it, or 41.1%.
Per person that came to 1,010 kg, about half the EU average of 1,930 kg.
What a Norwegian household throws away
Norway generated 716 kg of municipal waste per person in 2024, the newest year on Eurostat's record, against an EU average of 517 kg.
Countries differ in how much commercial waste they count as municipal, so part of the gap is a counting difference. Norway's own figure also jumped from 421 kg in 2015 to 754 kg in 2016, so only years from 2016 on compare.
Of that 716 kg, 46.5% was recycled and 47.2% burned to make heat and power.
Norway's packaging waste by material
This is the slice of Norwegian waste that extended producer responsibility makes producers pay for.
Norway generated 779,109 tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, or 141 kg per person, against an EU average of 178 kg that year. It recycled 64.0% of it, against 67.4% across the EU.
Here is the 2023 total by material, with the share of each that was recycled.
| Material | Tonnes | Recycled |
|---|---|---|
| Paper and cardboard | 350,730 | 85.1% |
| Plastic | 239,179 | 30.2% |
| Glass | 97,359 | 80.4% |
| Wood | 63,952 | 45.4% |
| Metal | 27,889 | 91.9% |
Note: Eurostat's packaging waste collection, 2023 reference year, with recycling shares on the basis set for the 2025 targets. The five lines add up to the reported total.
Plastic made up 30.7% of Norwegian packaging, and 30.2% of it was recycled, against 41.7% across the EU. Every other material was recycled at a higher rate than the EU average except paper and cardboard, at 85.1% against 87.0%.
Aluminium did best. Norway recycled 94.2% of its aluminium packaging in 2023, against 55.6% across the EU.
How Norwegian producers pay for their packaging
A company that puts packaged goods on the Norwegian market joins one of the two packaging schemes approved by the Norwegian Environment Agency (Miljødirektoratet), Grønt Punkt Norge or Norsirk, and pays it a fee by material and weight. There has been no minimum volume since 1 July 2025.
There is no state packaging register. The scheme reports its members' tonnage to the agency before 1 April each year. The state register for electronics, Registeret Produsentansvar, is filled in by the schemes too.
Drinks bottles and cans can go into a deposit return scheme instead, which also covers the packaging duty for them.
Everything a producer selling into Norway must register for is set out on Repax's Norway EPR overview, and the packaging detail on packaging EPR in Norway.
How close Norway is to its own packaging targets
Section 7-10 of Norway's waste regulations sets a minimum share of each material that producers must have recycled, rising in 2025 and again in 2030. The table sets Norway's latest rates, from 2023, the newest year with official figures, against both.
| Packaging | Targets 2025 / 2030 | Norway's latest rate |
|---|---|---|
| Plastic | 47% / 52% | 30.2% |
| Glass | 70% / 75% | 80.4% |
| Ferrous metal | 70% / 80% | 87.8% |
| Aluminium | 50% / 60% | 94.2% |
| Wood | 25% / 30% | 45.4% |
| Cartonboard | 60% / 60% | 85.1% (all paper) |
| Brown paper | 80% / 90% | 85.1% (all paper) |
Note: Norway's waste regulations, chapter 7, section 7-10, as in force from 1 July 2025. Norway's rates are Eurostat's, 2023 reference year.
On Eurostat's 2023 figures Norway already met the 2030 targets for glass, ferrous metal, aluminium and wood. Plastic was 16.8 percentage points short of the 2025 target.
Eurostat reports paper and cardboard as one figure, so the two paper targets cannot be checked separately. Norway sets no target for packaging as a whole.
Frequently asked questions about Norway's waste
Below are the seven questions that come up most about Norway's waste figures.
How much waste does Norway produce each year?
Norway is estimated to produce around 13.1 million tonnes of waste in 2026, down from the 14.0 million Eurostat measured in 2022. That 2022 figure came to 2,573 kg per person, about half the EU average of 4,981 kg.
Can Norway's waste be compared with other countries?
Only with care. Eurostat says the differences between countries reflect consumption and wealth but also depend on how municipal waste is collected and managed, so part of any gap is a difference in counting rather than in waste.
Why is Norway's waste so low per person?
Mainly because it has almost no mining waste. Mining and quarrying, including oil and gas extraction, produced 1.6% of Norway's waste in 2022, against 22.4% across the EU. Without mineral waste the gap is small, at 1,618 kg against 1,771 kg.
Why did Norway's waste jump in 2018?
Because soil from building sites entered the count. Eurostat recorded 2.7 million tonnes of soil for Norway in 2018, against 42,613 tonnes in 2016. Without the soil, the total grew 3.1% between 2016 and 2018.
How much packaging waste does Norway generate?
Norway generated 779,109 tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, or 141 kg per person, against an EU average of 178 kg. It recycled 64.0% of it, against 67.4% across the EU, with plastic the lowest at 30.2%.
Does the EU packaging regulation apply in Norway?
Not yet. Norway is in the EEA but not the EU, so the PPWR applies only once it is taken into the EEA Agreement, which is still being assessed. Until then chapter 7 of Norway's own waste regulations sets the rules and targets.
How much of Norway's municipal waste goes to landfill?
Very little. In 2024 Norway landfilled 2.8% of its municipal waste, recycled 46.5% and burned 47.2% to make energy. Across the EU the shares were 21.3%, 48.1% and 25.5%, while each Norwegian generated 716 kg of municipal waste against the EU's 517 kg.
Images: Øyvind Holmstad
