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 A tool kit for urban decision-makers on Waste & Resources in cities
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  EUROPE AND WASTE
 
 

 

 
 

Waste increase is an issue for Europe

Each year in the European Union alone we throw away 1.3 billion tonnes of waste
- some 40 million tonnes of it hazardous. This amounts to about 3.5 tonnes of solid waste for every man, woman and child.
Between 1990 and 1995, the amount of waste generated in Europe increased by 10%.
Source: European Commission, EU focus on waste management

   

The composition of the average municipal dustbin in the EU

Municipal waste makes up approximately 14% of total waste, that is 540kg per capita in 1999. According to ACRR, municipal waste are composed as follows :

 


NB: this average composition can widely vary from one country to another.
Source: ACRR, Minimisation and Recycling of Municipal waste in European Cities
   

What are we doing with our waste?

Recycling rates increased recently in the EU. The percentage of waste being disposed of in landfills decreased as a corollary. However, landfill remains the prevailing option in many EU countries. Indeed, treatment of municipal waste in EU in 1999 was distributed as follows :

  • 57% landfills
  • 16% incineration
  • 20% recycling+ composting
  • 7% others

The EU Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) promotes a decrease in landfilling waste.
Biodegradable waste counts for approximately 2/3 of total municipal waste quantities. By 2016, the EU Landfill Directive provides for a reduction of the quantity of biodegradable material to be landfilled of 35% of the 1995 levels.
Only a few EU Member States have reached this target in 2001 whereas in accession countries the fraction of municipal waste going to landfill is generally more than 90 % and in many cases very close to 100%.

Source: EEA, Environmental Signals 2002 - Waste and material flows

   

Tackling waste and resource: a European strategy

Since the 1980's, a number of policies and Directives have been discussed and adopted at the EU level to reduce waste generation in the EU, with priority given to waste minimization and prevention, and reuse and recycling.

More recently, the European Union emphasised the link between resource efficiency and waste generation in 2 major documents: the Sustainable Development Strategy and the Sixth Environmental Action Programme (6EAP). They both set as an essential objective the decoupling of economic growth, of the use of resources and of the generation of waste. To achieve this objective, the European Commission has been working on a thematic strategy on the sustainable use and management of resources since 2002.

For waste that continue to be generated, the 6EAP aims at a situation where:

  • most of the wastes are either reintroduced into the economic cycle, especially by recycling, or returned to the environment in a useful (e.g. composted) or harmless form;
  • the quantities of waste that still need to go to final disposal are reduced to an absolute minimum and are safely destroyed or disposed of;
  • waste is treated as close as possible to where it is generated.
    •

Source: EEA, Environmental Signals 2002 - Waste and material flows

More: European Commission, Sustainable use of natural resources

Did you know ? Waste production is increasing

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This project has received support from the European Commission.
The content of this website reflects the author's view and the European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.