Environment in the EU27 Landfill still accounted for nearly 40% of municipal waste treated in the EU27 in 2010

STAT/12/48

27 March 2012

Environment in the EU27
Landfill still accounted for nearly 40% of municipal waste treated in the EU27 in 2010

In the EU27, 502 kg of municipal waste1 was generated per person in 2010, while 486 kg of municipal waste was treated2 per person. This municipal waste was treated in different ways3: 38% was landfilled, 22% incinerated, 25% recycled and 15% composted.

The amount of municipal waste generated varies significantly across Member States. Cyprus, with 760 kg per person, had the highest amount of waste generated in 2010, followed by Luxembourg, Denmark and Ireland with values between 600 and 700 kg per person, and the Netherlands, Malta, Austria, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Portugal with values between 500 and 600 kg. Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary and Bulgaria had values between 400 and 500 kg, while values of below 400 kg per person were recorded in Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia and Latvia.

This information4 is published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Incineration represents half or more of waste treatment in Denmark and Sweden

The treatment methods differ substantially between Member States. In 2010, the Member States with the highest share of municipal waste landfilled were Bulgaria (100% of waste treated), Romania (99%), Lithuania (94%) and Latvia (91%).

The highest shares of incinerated municipal waste were observed in Denmark (54% of waste treated), Sweden (49%), the Netherlands (39%), Germany (38%), Belgium (37%), Luxembourg (35%) and France (34%). In ten Member States incineration was equal to or below 1%.

Recycling was most common in Germany (45% of waste treated), Belgium (40%), Slovenia (39%), Sweden (36%), Ireland (35%) and the Netherlands (33%). The Member States with the highest composting rates for municipal waste were Austria (40%), the Netherlands (28%), Belgium (22%), Luxembourg (20%), Denmark (19%) and Spain (18%).

Recycling and composting of municipal waste together accounted for 50% of waste treated or more in Austria (70%), Belgium and Germany (both 62%), the Netherlands (61%) and Sweden (50%). In five Member States less than 10% of waste was recycled or composted.

Municipal waste, 2010

* Estimated by Eurostat

0 equals less than 0.5%, "-" indicates a real zero

• Municipal waste consists to a large extent of waste generated by households, but may also include similar wastes generated by small businesses and public institutions and collected by the municipality; this part of municipal waste may vary from municipality to municipality and from country to country, depending on the local waste management system.

For areas not covered by a municipal waste collection scheme the amount of waste generated is estimated. Wastes from agriculture and industry are not included.

• The reported quantities of waste generated and treated do not match exactly for some Member States, for the following reasons: estimates for the population not covered by collection schemes, weight losses due to dehydration, double counts of waste undergoing two or more treatment steps, exports and imports of waste and time lags between generation and treatment (temporary storage).

• Waste treatment refers to the following methods:

Landfill is defined as the depositing of waste into or onto land, including specially engineered landfill and temporary storage of over one year.

Incineration means thermal treatment of waste in an incineration plant.

Recycling means any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes, except the use as fuel.

Composting is the biological treatment (anaerobic or aerobic) of biodegradable matter resulting in a recoverable product.

In principle, data on treated municipal waste only refer to waste treated within the Member State, and does not take into account waste exported for treatment. However, recycling capacities may be limited in small countries. Luxembourg is a case where recycled amounts include exports.

• For further information, please visit the web site of Eurostat, under Statistics / Environment / Environmental Data Centre on Waste.