Dutch binned 449 kilograms of garbage per person last year, 6 kg less than in 2024

Last year, the Dutch collectively threw away 8.1 billion kilograms of household waste. That is an average of 449 kilograms per inhabitant, 6 kilograms less than in 2024, according to preliminary figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The decrease was mainly due to less vegetable, fruit, and garden waste (GFT).

An average of 86 kilograms of GFT was collected per inhabitant, compared to about 92 kilograms in 2024. The amount of bulky garden waste also decreased. According to CBS, this is partly due to dry weather resulting in less greenery growing and less pruning and clearing work.

The largest waste stream was residual waste, just as in previous years. Municipalities collected an average of 179 kilograms per inhabitant, about the same as a year earlier. Residual waste is household waste that is not collected separately for recycling, composting, or biomass, for example.

Approximately 60 percent of household waste was collected separately in 2025. That share has remained about the same since 2019. According to CBS, the degree of urbanization and high-rise buildings, among other things, play a role in how much waste is separated. In high-rise buildings, there is often less space for containers or bins to collect garbage separately.