Municipal waste recycled in Japan

Japan: Municipal waste recycled was 8.04 million tonnes in 2021. ▼ Falling

Latest (2021)
8.04 million tonnes
Change on year
down 1.4%
World rank
7th
of 86 countries
All-time high
10.30 million tonnes
in 2007
All-time low
7.86 million tonnes
in 2000
Years of data
22
2000–2021

Municipal waste recycled in Japan, 2000–2021

02.5M5.0M7.5M10.0M2000201020212000: 7.9M tonnes2001: 8.2M tonnes2002: 8.6M tonnes2003: 9.2M tonnes2004: 9.4M tonnes2005: 10.0M tonnes2006: 10.2M tonnes2007: 10.3M tonnes2008: 9.8M tonnes2009: 9.5M tonnes2010: 9.4M tonnes2011: 9.2M tonnes2012: 9.1M tonnes2013: 9.1M tonnes2014: 9.0M tonnes2015: 8.8M tonnes2016: 8.6M tonnes2017: 8.5M tonnes2018: 8.4M tonnes2019: 8.2M tonnes2020: 8.2M tonnes2021: 8.0M tonnes

Source: United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.

Analysis

The most recent figure for municipal waste recycled in Japan is 8.04 million tonnes, measured in 2021.

That represents a change of down 1.4% on the previous year and down 12.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, municipal waste recycled in Japan peaked at 10.30 million tonnes in 2007 and was at its lowest, 7.86 million tonnes, in 2000.

Japan ranks 7th of 86 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 22 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 9.31 million tonnes 7.86 million tonnes 10.30 million tonnes 10
2010s 8.84 million tonnes 8.24 million tonnes 9.45 million tonnes 10
2020s 8.10 million tonnes 8.04 million tonnes 8.15 million tonnes 2

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 4 France 15.02 million tonnes compare
  2. 5 South Africa 14.20 million tonnes compare
  3. 6 Spain 8.61 million tonnes compare
  4. 8 United Kingdom 7.74 million tonnes compare
  5. 9 Canada 6.75 million tonnes compare
  6. 10 Poland 5.49 million tonnes compare

See the full ranking of 86 places →

More environment data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is municipal waste recycled in Japan?
Municipal waste recycled in Japan was 8.04 million tonnes in 2021, 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 Japan?
The highest recorded value was 10.30 million tonnes in 2007.
What is the lowest municipal waste recycled recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 7.86 million tonnes in 2000.
How does Japan rank for municipal waste recycled?
Japan ranks 7th out of 86 countries with data for 2021.
Is municipal waste recycled rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is down 12.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Japan 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 — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Municipal waste recycled
Unit
tonnes
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
86 places, 1,389 data points, 2000–2022
Last refreshed

Municipal waste recycled (Tonnes)