Electronic waste recycling rate by country

Proportion of electronic waste recycled (%)

Countries reporting
31
Highest
91.2%
Croatia
Lowest
20.0%
Japan
Median
81.4%
Years covered
23
2000–2022
Data points
425

What the numbers show

Electronic waste recycling rate is currently reported for 31 countries. The highest value is 91.2% in Croatia; the lowest is 20.0% in Japan.

The median across all reporting countries is 81.4%, and the mean is 75.3%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 5.

Over the past decade 19 countries rose and 12 fell. The largest increase was in Romania (up 572.7%), and the largest decrease in Canada (down 69.4%).

Electronic waste recycling rate: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Croatia 91.2% 2018 down 1.2% flat
2 Iceland 90.4% 2018 up 35.5% rising
3 Finland 89.7% 2018 up 8.9% rising
4 Slovakia 88.9% 2018 up 4.1% rising
6 Poland 87.6% 2018 up 123.5% rising
7 Spain 86.2% 2018 up 8.0% rising
8 Estonia 85.7% 2018 up 5.3% rising
9 Germany 85.6% 2018 up 6.2% rising
10 Czechia 84.7% 2018 up 11.9% rising
11 Slovenia 84.6% 2018 up 25.3% rising
12 Italy 84.3% 2018 down 1.1% rising
13 Hungary 83.5% 2018 up 1.8% rising
14 Sweden 83.3% 2018 up 1.0% falling
16 Lithuania 82.2% 2017 up 31.9% rising
17 Latvia 81.4% 2018 up 16.8% rising
17 Norway 81.4% 2018 down 0.1% flat
19 Bulgaria 81.0% 2018 up 24.4% rising
20 Portugal 80.9% 2017 down 12.0% falling
21 Greece 80.7% 2018 down 2.5% rising
21 Denmark 80.7% 2018 down 10.7% flat
23 Austria 79.8% 2018 up 0.1% flat
24 Cyprus 78.3% 2017 down 1.1% rising
25 Netherlands 75.6% 2018 down 6.8% flat
26 France 74.2% 2018 down 2.2% rising
27 Romania 74.0% 2016 up 572.7% rising
29 Belgium 72.5% 2018 down 5.8% flat
31 Switzerland 59.4% 2022 down 27.0% falling
32 South Korea 44.1% 2022 up 82.3% rising
33 United States 42.5% 2018 up 12.9% rising
34 Canada 20.6% 2022 down 69.4% falling
35 Japan 20.0% 2022 up 19.9% falling

About this data

Indicator
Electronic waste recycling rate
Unit
%
Source
United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
35 places, 425 data points, 2000–2022
Last refreshed

Proportion of electronic waste recycled (%)