Municipal waste recycled in Belgium
Belgium: Municipal waste recycled was 4.53 million tonnes in 2023. ▲ Rising
Municipal waste recycled in Belgium, 2000–2023
Source: United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.
Analysis
Belgium recorded 4.53 million tonnes for municipal waste recycled in 2023.
That represents a change of up 2.6% on the previous year and up 76.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, municipal waste recycled in Belgium peaked at 4.86 million tonnes in 2021 and was at its lowest, 2.40 million tonnes, in 2000.
Belgium ranks 14th of 90 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Municipal waste recycled in Belgium, year by year
| Year | tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.40 million tonnes | — |
| 2001 | 2.42 million tonnes | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 2.57 million tonnes | +6.0% |
| 2003 | 2.55 million tonnes | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 2.71 million tonnes | +6.1% |
| 2005 | 2.81 million tonnes | +3.8% |
| 2006 | 2.87 million tonnes | +2.2% |
| 2007 | 2.98 million tonnes | +3.7% |
| 2008 | 2.71 million tonnes | -9.1% |
| 2009 | 2.72 million tonnes | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 2.73 million tonnes | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 2.73 million tonnes | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 2.64 million tonnes | -3.4% |
| 2013 | 2.57 million tonnes | -2.6% |
| 2014 | 2.56 million tonnes | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 2.48 million tonnes | -3.0% |
| 2016 | 2.54 million tonnes | +2.3% |
| 2017 | 2.52 million tonnes | -0.9% |
| 2018 | 2.54 million tonnes | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 2.61 million tonnes | +2.8% |
| 2020 | 4.32 million tonnes | +65.3% |
| 2021 | 4.86 million tonnes | +12.6% |
| 2022 | 4.41 million tonnes | -9.3% |
| 2023 | 4.53 million tonnes | +2.6% |
Belgium compared with similar countries
- Belgium's 4.53 million tonnes is above the median for high income countries, which is 948,000 tonnes, 4.8× the median. (57 countries reporting)
- Belgium's 4.53 million tonnes is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 1.06 million tonnes, 4.3× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Municipal waste recycled in Belgium changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +65.3% | 2.61 million tonnes | 4.32 million tonnes |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.67 million tonnes | 2.40 million tonnes | 2.98 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.59 million tonnes | 2.48 million tonnes | 2.73 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.53 million tonnes | 4.32 million tonnes | 4.86 million tonnes | 4 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
More environment data for Belgium
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -5.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.574 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.19 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.5577 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.0605 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is municipal waste recycled in Belgium?
- Municipal waste recycled in Belgium was 4.53 million tonnes in 2023, according to United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest municipal waste recycled recorded in Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 4.86 million tonnes in 2021.
- What is the lowest municipal waste recycled recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.40 million tonnes in 2000.
- How does Belgium rank for municipal waste recycled?
- Belgium ranks 14th out of 90 countries with data for 2023.
- Is municipal waste recycled rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is up 76.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Belgium data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Municipal waste recycled. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Municipal waste recycled (Tonnes).