🌍 Global waste in numbers
The world makes billions of tonnes of household and municipal waste every year, and the amount is still rising. Here are the headline figures, with the source for each.
How much waste is there?
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Solid Waste Association say the world produced 2.1 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste in 2023, and that it is predicted to grow to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. Municipal solid waste is mainly what comes from homes, plus similar waste from shops and offices.
The World Bank’s What a Waste 2.0 report uses older data, from 2016. It put global municipal waste at 2.01 billion tonnes a year and expected 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050. It also found that at least 33 percent of this waste was not managed in an environmentally safe way.
The two reports use different years and methods. They show the same trend, but you should not read one number as an update of the other.
What does it cost?
UNEP estimated that managing waste cost the world about USD 252 billion directly in 2020. Counting hidden costs such as pollution, poor health and climate change, the figure rises to USD 361 billion.
It warns that without urgent action the yearly cost could reach USD 640.3 billion by 2050. With waste prevention and better management, it says net costs could be limited to USD 270.2 billion a year. It adds that moving to a circular economy, where waste is designed out and materials are reused, could give a net gain of USD 108.5 billion a year.
Plastic is part of the picture
The World Bank reported that in 2016 plastic made up 12 percent of municipal solid waste, or 242 million tonnes. See the global plastics treaty for where international talks have got to.
What can you do?
The report’s message is that the cheapest waste is waste that is never made. At home that means buying less, repairing and reusing, then recycling properly. Our UK guides and the A to Z of household items show how.
Information on this page comes from the organisations named in the sources, and statistics are only as good as the data countries report. Different reports use different years and methods, so do not compare their numbers directly.
Sources
Spotted something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we will check it.
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