Municipal waste recycling rate in Japan

Japan: Municipal waste recycling rate was 20.54 Percentage in 2014. ▲ Rising

Latest (2014)
20.54 Percentage
Change on year
up 0.6%
World rank
24th
of 31 countries
All-time high
20.54 Percentage
in 2014
All-time low
5.31 Percentage
in 1990
Years of data
25
1990–2014

Municipal waste recycling rate in Japan, 1990–2014

51015201990200220141990: 5.3 Percentage1991: 6.1 Percentage1992: 7.3 Percentage1993: 8 Percentage1994: 9.1 Percentage1995: 9.8 Percentage1996: 10.3 Percentage1997: 11 Percentage1998: 12.1 Percentage1999: 13.1 Percentage2000: 14.3 Percentage2001: 15.1 Percentage2002: 15.9 Percentage2003: 16.8 Percentage2004: 17.6 Percentage2005: 19 Percentage2006: 19.6 Percentage2007: 20.3 Percentage2008: 19.3 Percentage2009: 18.9 Percentage2010: 19.1 Percentage2011: 20.3 Percentage2012: 20.3 Percentage2013: 20.4 Percentage2014: 20.5 Percentage

Source: OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in Percentage.

Analysis

The most recent figure for municipal waste recycling rate in Japan is 20.54 Percentage, measured in 2014. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 16.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, municipal waste recycling rate in Japan peaked at 20.54 Percentage in 2014 and was at its lowest, 5.31 Percentage, in 1990.

That places Japan 24th out of 31 countries with data for 2014, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 9.21 Percentage 5.31 Percentage 13.07 Percentage 10
2000s 17.68 Percentage 14.33 Percentage 20.29 Percentage 10
2010s 20.13 Percentage 19.07 Percentage 20.54 Percentage 5

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 21 Lithuania 23.26 Percentage compare
  2. 22 France 22.25 Percentage compare
  3. 23 Iceland 21.31 Percentage compare
  4. 25 Canada 17.91 Percentage compare
  5. 26 Spain 16.84 Percentage compare
  6. 27 Portugal 16.23 Percentage compare

See the full ranking of 31 places →

More environment data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is municipal waste recycling rate in Japan?
Municipal waste recycling rate in Japan was 20.54 Percentage in 2014, according to OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest municipal waste recycling rate recorded in Japan?
The highest recorded value was 20.54 Percentage in 2014.
What is the lowest municipal waste recycling rate recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 5.31 Percentage in 1990.
How does Japan rank for municipal waste recycling rate?
Japan ranks 24th out of 31 countries with data for 2014.
Is municipal waste recycling rate rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is up 16.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Japan data come from?
The figures come from OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Municipal waste recycling rate. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Municipal waste recycling rate
Unit
Percentage
Source
OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
31 places, 646 data points, 1990–2015
Last refreshed

Municipal (including household) waste recycling rates, measured as the percentage of total waste generated that is recycled.