Bulgaria sent 91.4% of its treated waste to landfill in 2024, the highest share in the European Union, the latest Eurostat data show.

It is also third for waste per person, at 2,881 kg per resident against an EU average of 1,697 kg. The figures leave out large mineral waste from mines, quarries and construction.

Estonia has the most, at 4,703 kg per person, followed by Belgium at 3,157 kg. At the other end are Malta with 1,092 kg, Ireland with 1,199 kg and Slovenia with 1,254 kg.

Finland comes next after Bulgaria for landfill at 84.4%, then Sweden at 75.1%. On average, 37.8% of treated waste in the EU goes to landfill.

The EU produced 2.196bn tonnes of waste in 2024. Without the large mineral waste, the total is 765m tonnes, or 35% of all waste. In 2004 it was 779.5m tonnes, so it has fallen by 1.9% in 20 years.

The EU recovers 61.8% of its treated waste. Some 42% is recycled, 13.3% is used to fill excavations and 6.5% is burned to produce energy. Another 0.4% is burned without energy recovery.

In 12 EU countries, more than half of treated waste is recycled. Italy leads with 87.3%, followed by Hungary with 77.1% and Slovakia with 69.8%.

Slovenia uses 67.8% of its waste to fill excavations, for engineering works and to shape land. In Ireland the figure is 45.2%.

Burning waste for energy is rare in the EU. Denmark does it with 27% of its waste and Lithuania with 19.4%.