Japan: daily waste volume per person

Average daily amount of waste generated per capita in Japan from fiscal year 2014 to 2023 (in grams)

Characteristic	Waste volume in grams
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Release date

March 2025

More information

Region

Japan

Survey time period

fiscal year 2014 to 2023; the Japanese fiscal year starts on April 1 of the stated year and ends on March 31 of the following year

Supplementary notes

Waste generation per person per day = (Waste from life activities + Waste from business activities ) /total population /365 (or 366)

Figures have been rounded.

Citation formats

In the fiscal year 2023, the average daily volume of waste produced per capita in Japan amounted to around *** grams, a decrease from around *** grams in fiscal year 2022. The total amount of waste generated in the country stood at around ** million metric tons in the same fiscal year, indicating a downwards trend as well. *remained the largest type of generated waste in Japan.

Waste in Japan

The majority of waste collected in Japan is processed in facilities for incineration, disruption, or recycling. The waste that cannot be either incinerated or recycled is cast into landfill. The volume of final waste disposed in landfill amounted to approximately 3.2 million metric tons. Despite the steady decrease in the amount of final waste, Japan is facing a shortage of landfill sites, as the remaining capacity of landfill sites is shrinking.

Recycling

Sorting of waste in Japan is usually done by the citizens. Waste must be subdivided into categories for collection and it is not picked up if the strict waste separation rules are not followed. Throughout the past decade, the recycling rate of the total waste remained at around 20 percent. Paper was the material that was most recycled both from the waste collected by municipalities and community groups.