Poles and Romanians produce the least amount of municipal waste per capita, according to the EU’s statistical agency, Eurostat.

Recent data found that Romania is the least littering member of the EU with its 272 kg of garbage per capita yearly. Poland came next with only 315 kg of trash produced per citizen annually, something that stands in stark comparison with Denmark which produces 781 kg of garbage per capita yearly.



Denmark has tried to minimise its waste production in recent years, but the result was underwhelming, the business money.pl website said, quoting the data. It reported that per capita waste production dropped by nine kilogrammes over the last decade.



Meanwhile, Poland, whose garbage production is around half that of Denmark, has managed to reduce garbage production by seven kilogrammes per person. For the sake of comparison, Romania managed to minimise its trash production by 119 kg per citizen annually.



Big dumpers



But the report claimed that some countries actually increased their garbage per person over the last decade. Norway, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic saw an increase in garbage production. Countries leading in down-sizing their garbage production were Bulgaria, Romania and the Netherlands.



The highest waste-producing countries of Europe, aside from Denmark, are Norway and Switzerland. The fifth place went to Germany.



An average German citizen generates 600 kg of trash per year. Nonetheless, Germany also recycles much of its trash. “Concerning recycling, Germany is at the head of Europe,” wrote Money.pl, adding that the country recycles 67.6 percent of its garbage mass which is more than the European trash recycling average of 45.2 percent.



Poland recycles 33.7 percent of its garbage, similar to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and Ireland. Ten years ago Poland used to recycling merely eight percent of its garbage. Money.pl called the notable change “a civilisational leap”.