The capital generated over 257 thousand tons of waste in 2024, thus becoming the municipality with the record for waste per capita per year in the country.
The latest data from institutions shows that Tirana generated 14.52 kg of waste per capita per day, while Durrës comes next with 5.02 kg per capita per day. Both municipalities have extremely high levels, with Tirana even standing at almost 10 times the average of European Union countries, and this is also cited in the report of the National Environmental Agency.
"In terms of waste quantities per inhabitant per day (kg/inhabitant/day), Tirana results as the municipality with the highest generation per capita, with 14.52 kg/person/day, followed by Durrës with 5.02 kg/person/day.
Both values are well above the average of any European country (1.3 – 1.8 kg/person/day). The table below gives the amounts of waste in kg/inhabitant/year for the ten municipalities that generated the most waste during 2024," the report states.
Of the ten largest municipalities, the report estimates that Fier was in third place with 1.61kg per capita per year, followed by Vlora with 1 kg per capita per day. The municipality with the least waste generated was Berat with 0.6 kg of waste per capita per day.
Tirana generates 30% of waste at the national level
Tirana, according to official data, generates about 30 percent of waste at the national level, which corresponds to a figure of about 258 thousand tons2. The second municipality is Durrës, with 67,564 tons. “This shows a high concentration of waste generation in the capital and in Durrës, as the area with the greatest economic activity in the country.
"Vlora, Fier and Shkodra are the other three municipalities that have significant levels of waste generation, although lower than Durrës. This coincides with the fact that these municipalities have a more developed economic activity compared to the rest of the country," the report states.
In total, for 2024, around 870,883.59 tons of waste were managed across the country, an increase compared to 2023, when 820,322 tons of waste were managed. Three urban municipalities, namely Tirana, Fieri and Saranda, report that the waste cleaning service covers 100% of the territory.
Meanwhile, the three rural municipalities with the lowest coverage of the territory with waste collection service are Fushë Arrëzi, Hasi and Memaliaj, with 22%, 35.2% and 50% respectively. Only 26 municipalities have reported on inert waste management. Saranda, Elbasan and Durrës are the municipalities with the largest amounts of inert waste from those that have reported. The Municipality of Tirana has not reported on inert waste./Monitor
