To mark the fourth International Zero Waste Day—celebrated on March 30 and initiated by a UN General Assembly resolution spearheaded by Turkiye in 2023—European waste management data has come into sharp focus. While the European Union’s ambitious targets dictate that over 65 percent of waste must be recycled by 2035, with landfilling reduced to a maximum of 10 percent, the countries of the Balkan Peninsula display dramatic disparities. A comprehensive report by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), based on the latest Eurostat and national statistics, reveals exactly where each state stands in achieving these critical sustainability goals.
International Targets and the European Averages
According to 2023 Eurostat data, the overall recycling rate in the European Union stood at 47.9 percent. In Europe, the absolute leader for that year was Germany at 68.7 percent, followed by Austria at 62.8 percent, and Slovenia at 59.8 percent.
Regarding packaging waste, Euronews-cited statistics highlight that the EU generates 177.8 kilograms of packaging waste per person annually, of which 35.3 kilograms is plastic. The EU’s average recycling rate for packaging waste rose from 65.3 percent in 2022 to 67.5 percent in 2023. A total of seven EU countries—Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, and Slovenia—have already met the 2030 target of recycling at least 70 percent of all packaging waste. Slovenia is the only Balkan nation in this elite group.
Slovenia: The Absolute Champion of the Region
As the only true success story on the peninsula, Slovenia boasts the following 2023 metrics:
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Recycled waste (overall): 59.8%
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Recycled packaging waste: 73.6%
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Recycled plastic packaging waste: 51.5%
The country’s success is rooted in a strict “door-to-door” home sorting system, where households must separate biodegradable waste, paper, plastics, glass, mixed waste, and textiles. Adhering to the “polluter pays” principle, residents pay a waste tax based on the volume of mixed waste generated, container size, and collection frequency. Proper separation significantly lowers costs, while improper sorting leads to fines.
The Struggle to Catch Up: Turkiye and Croatia
In Turkiye, recycling has been an integral part of the Zero Waste program launched in 2017 under the auspices of First Lady Emine Erdogan. By 2025, the national recycling rate reached 37.5 percent (up from 13 percent initially), with a goal of hitting 70 percent by 2053. Since the program began, 90 million tonnes of waste have been recycled (including 36.1 million tonnes of paper and 10.2 million tonnes of plastic). The country introduced a fee for plastic bags—currently set at TRY 1 (0.02 EUR) as of early 2026—to combat the average usage of 312 bags per person per year. Additionally, a deposit system operating across 53 provinces with 834 machines has collected 12.5 million items, saving approximately EUR 58,305 to date.
Croatia currently recycles 36 percent of its overall waste (51.9 percent of packaging and 28.2 percent of plastic packaging). The nation aims for a 65 percent recycling rate by 2030. To enforce its Waste Management Act, Croatia applies fines ranging from EUR 100 to EUR 250 for individuals, and EUR 600 to EUR 1,300 for legal entities.
Lagging EU Member States
Despite their EU membership, the following countries face severe infrastructural challenges:
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Greece: Only 17.4 percent of waste is recycled, while roughly 80 percent is still sent to landfills. However, Greece performs exceptionally well in electronic waste recycling, hitting the EU average of 82 percent. The country has also begun rolling out a deposit return system featuring 4,200 recycling machines.
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Bulgaria: The country recycles a mere 16.7 percent of its overall waste (2023 data). For packaging, its 2022 rate stood at 58.3 percent, with plastic packaging at 39.5 percent.
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Cyprus: With an overall rate of 15.8 percent, the island nation relies on a “Pay-As-You-Throw” system utilizing prepaid bags for non-recyclable waste.
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Romania: Ranking at the bottom of the EU, Romania recycles only 12.4 percent of its waste. Generating 303 kilograms of household waste per person annually, 74 percent ends up in landfills. In late 2023, Romania introduced a bottle return system offering a voucher of RON 0.50 (EUR 0.10) per bottle.
A Critical Situation in the Western Balkans and Beyond
Statistics for non-EU Balkan countries indicate an almost complete lack of structured waste management:
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Albania: In 2024, the country generated 862.2 thousand tonnes of waste (360 kg per capita), yet only 18.8 percent is recycled. Single-use plastic bags were banned in 2022.
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Serbia: Despite generating three million tonnes of household waste annually, only 15.2 percent is recycled. The country has 2,689 official illegal landfills (NGOs estimate over 3,500). A new Waste Management Act passed in December 2025 inadvertently created a legal vacuum by January 1, 2026, causing recycling plants to cut their workforce by 70 percent. Experts warn that 120,000 tonnes of waste could enter the environment unprocessed this year.
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Montenegro: The recycling rate sits at a dismal 3.7 percent. In 2021, the country generated 1.47 million tonnes of waste (526 kg per capita), and 13 percent of it was not collected at all.
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Kosovo: With a 3.5 percent recycling rate driven mostly by private companies, the state recently banned thin plastic bags in September 2023 and imposed a EUR 0.05 charge on thicker ones.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina: Generating 345 kilograms of waste per person, only 1 percent is recovered. Over 1,400 illegal dumps pollute the environment.
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North Macedonia: The recycling rate registers at exactly 0.0 percent. Municipal waste generation has increased by 30 percent since 2008. Lacking domestic processing facilities, the country largely exports its waste to Turkiye, while local illegal dumps frequently catch fire during the summer, causing severe ecological hazards.
References and Official Sources:
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Original source: BTA (Bulgarian News Agency) – Zero Waste in the Balkans: Which Country is Closest to Target?