Recycling of municipal waste - European Environment Agency

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Recyclingofmunicipalwaste Info Briefing Recyclingofmunicipalwaste Briefing Published29Nov2018 Lastmodified30Jun2020 12 minread Photo:© AndreiMarin,MyCity/EEA Topics: Resourceefficiencyandwaste Indicator Indicatorpasttrend Selectedobjectivetobemetby2020 IndicativeoutlookfortheEUmeetingtheselectedobjectiveby2020 Recyclingofmunicipalwaste EU EEA 50%ofselectedmaterialsinhouseholdandsimilarwastetoberecycledbyeachEUMemberState—WasteFrameworkDirective  Theamountofmunicipalwastebeingrecycledhasbeensteadilyincreasing.TheoutlookforallMemberStatesmeetingthe2020targetismixed.SeveralMemberStateshaveachieved,orarewelloncoursetoachievingthetarget.However,thetargetissomewayoffforothers. ForfurtherinformationonthescoreboardmethodologypleaseseeBoxI.3intheEEAEnvironmentalindicatorreport2018 TheSeventhEnvironmentActionProgramme(7thEAP)containstheobjectivethatwasteissafelymanagedasaresource—thisshouldhelpEuropetoextractmorevaluefromtheresourcesituses,reducetheenvironmentalimpactsassociatedwithwastemanagementandcreatejobs.Inthisregarditisimportanttofurtherincreasemunicipalwasterecyclingrates.TheWasteFrameworkDirectivesetsatargetof50%ofmunicipalwaste(specifictypesofhouseholdandsimilarwastes)tobepreparedforreuseandrecycledby2020inEUMemberStates.TheamountofmunicipalwastebeingrecycledhasbeensteadilyincreasinginEuropethankstoinvestmentsinappropriatecollectionandhandling,financialincentivestomoveawayfromlandfillingofwasteandlandfillbans.TheperformanceofEUMemberStatesontherecyclingofmunicipalwastevaries,althoughthecomparabilityofdataishinderedbyvariationindatacollectionanddefinitions.Despiteastrongperformancefromsomecountriesandclearprogressbeingmadeinnearlyallsince2004,inanumberofMemberStatessignificanteffortsarestillneededtoachievethe2020target. Settingthescene The7thEAPstatesthat,by2020,wasteshouldbe'safelymanagedasaresource','landfilling[is]limitedtoresidual(i.e.non-recyclableandnon-recoverablewaste)'and'energyrecovery[is]limitedtonon-recyclablematerials'(EU,2013).TheoverarchinglogicguidingEUpolicyonwasteisthewastehierarchy,whichprioritiseswasteprevention,followedbypreparingforreuse,recycling,otherrecoveryandfinallydisposal,includinglandfillingastheleastdesirableoption.Thisbriefingpresentstrendsontherecyclingofmunicipalwaste.Animprovementintheproportionofwastethatisrecycledindicatesthatwastemanagementismovingupthewastehierarchy.Recyclingallowsthegenerationofmorevaluefromresourcesandcreatesjobs.Itcanalsoreducethedemandforrawmaterialsandtheenvironmentalimpactsassociatedwithmeetingthisdemand(AIRS_PO2.1,2018). Policytargetsandprogress TheEUhasintroducedmultiplewastepoliciesandtargetssincethe1990s. TheWasteFrameworkDirective(EU,2008,2018a)setsatargetof50 %ofmunicipalwastetoberecycledandpreparedforreuseby2020inEUMemberStates,foratleastfourcategories(i.e.paper,glass,metals,plastics)ofwaste.Countriescanchoosefromfouralternativecalculationmethodstomeasureprogresstowardsthetarget(EU,2011).InDecember2015,theEuropeanCommissionpublished'Closingtheloop—AnEUactionplanforthecirculareconomy'(EC,2015),alsoknownastheCircularEconomyPackage.Thepackagesetsoutalargenumberofinitiativesandledtotheadoptionofnewtargets:55 %ofmunicipalwastetoberecycledandpreparedforreuseby2025,60 %by2030and65 %by2035(EU,2018a).Thesetargetsarebasedonjustonecalculationmethod(moreambitiousthantheoneusedinFigures1and2ofthisbriefing),althoughsomecountrieshavetheoptionofalteringthetimescale. AscanbeseeninFigure1,theoverallrateofrecycling(materialrecycling,compostinganddigestion)fortheEUincreasedfrom31 %in2004to45 %in2016.Theincreasewasfrom28%to41%ifdatafromnon-EU,EEAmembercountries(Iceland,Liechtenstein,Norway,SwitzerlandandTurkey)areaddedtotheaggregatedEUcountrydata.Thisimprovementcomesfromacombinationofareductionintheamountofmunicipalwastegeneratedandanincreaseinthetotalquantityundergoingmaterialrecycling,compostinganddigestion.ThisincreaseisviewedasoneofthesuccessstoriesofenvironmentalpolicyinEuropeso far(EEA,2016b). Aroundtwothirdsoftheprogressinenhancedrecyclingratesbetween2004and2016wasprimarilybecauseofmorematerialrecycling.Increasedcompostinganddigestionwasresponsiblefortheremainingthird(EEAcalculationbasedonEurostat,2018a).   Figure1.Proportionofmunicipalwastetreatedbydifferentmethods, EU Note:Thetreatmentsharesrelatetowastegenerated.Recyclingofmunicipalwasteincludesmaterialrecyclingandcomposting/anaerobicdigestionandmightalsoincludepreparingforreuse.Datafor2004-2006excludeCroatia.'Other'includes,interalia,masslossesduringpre-treatment,storageandwastegeneratedbutnotcollected.   Figure1showsthetrendinmunicipalwasterecyclinginthecontextofothermunicipalwastetreatmentmethods.Itisapparentthat,asawhole,theEUismovingawayfromlandfillingbutthattheshareofincinerationisalsogrowing,witha57 %increasebetween2004and2016,comparedwitha48 %increaseforrecycling(includingcompostinganddigestion). Countrylevelinformation Overtheexaminedperiod(2004-2016),somecountriesshowhigh(andsustained)levelsofmunicipalwasterecyclingandmanyothersshowstrongimprovement(Figure2).Despitethis,asshowninFigure2,thelowratesofrecyclingand/orslowprogressmadeinsomecountries,suggestthatnotevery country islikelyto achieve theWasteFrameworkDirectivetarget by 2020.AnalysisbytheEuropeanCommission(EC,2018)andbytheETC/WMGEfortheEEA(ETC/WMGE,2018)indicatethat14EUMemberStatesareatriskofnotmeetingthetarget. Figure2.Municipalwasterecyclingrate(includingcompostinganddigestion)bycountry Note:Therecyclingrateiscalculatedasthepercentageofmunicipalwastegeneratedthatisrecycled,compostedandanaerobicallydigested,andmightalsoincludepreparingforreuse.Changesinreportingmethodologymeanthat2016dataarenotfullycomparablewith2004dataforAustria,Belgium,Croatia,Cyprus,Estonia,Lithuania,Italy,Norway,Malta,Poland,Romania,Slovakia,SloveniaandSpain.2005datawereusedinsteadof2004dataforPolandbecauseofchangesinmethodology.Onaccountofdataavailability,insteadof2004data,2003datawereusedforIceland,2007dataforCroatia,and2006dataforSerbia;andinsteadof2016data,2014datawereusedforIreland,and2015dataforMontenegro.2016dataforCyprus,CzechRepublic,Germany,France,Luxembourg,Poland,SloveniaandTurkeyincludeestimates. Therewerelargedifferencesinperformanceamongthosecountrieswiththehighestandlowestrecyclingrates.Germany,Austria,Belgium,Switzerland,theNetherlandsandSloveniarecycledatleasthalfoftheirmunicipalwastein2016.Thehighestincreasesinrecyclingratesbetween2004and2016occurredinLithuania,Poland,Slovenia,Italy,Hungary,theCzechRepublic,theUnitedKingdomandLatvia,rangingfrom46(Lithuania)to20(Latvia)percentagepoints.Overall,in19outof35countries,theincreaseinrecyclingrateswasatleast10percentagepointsduringthisperiod. Meanwhile,inBosniaandHerzegovina,Estonia,MaltaandSerbia,theverylowproportionofrecycledmunicipalwastebarelychanged.Comparabilityof2004and2016dataislimitedforAustria,Belgium,Croatia,Cyprus,Estonia,Lithuania,Italy,Norway,Malta,Poland,Romania,Slovakia,SloveniaandSpainbecauseofmethodologicalimprovementsindatacollection. Whilemostoftherecycledwasteiscollectedseparately,anotherpartcomesfromextractingrecyclablesfrommixedmunicipalwasteinpre-treatmentplants.Thisusuallyresultsinlowerqualityrecycledmaterialsandmayenhancetheriskofcontaminatingmaterialcyclesandtheenvironment.Therehasbeenanincreaseinthecapacityforsuchpre-treatmentofmixedmunicipalwasteinsomecountries(ETC/WMGE,2018). InFigure2,theincreasesintherecyclingratesinsomeofthecountriesmay,therefore,notfullytranslateintostrongbenefitsfortheenvironment. TherecyclingratesshowninFigure2cannotbeusedtoassessEUMemberStates'progressagainstthetargetof50 %ofwastetoberecycledandpreparedforreusesetbytheWasteFrameworkDirective,becauseMemberStatescanchoosebetweenfourdifferentmethodstocalculatecompliancewiththetarget(EU,2011).Figure2showsrecyclingratescalculatedfollowingthemostdemandingmethod,i.e.recycledandcomposted/digestedmunicipalwasteasashareoftotalgeneratedmunicipalwaste. Thereisaclearlinkbetweenincreasingrecyclingratesanddecliningratesoflandfilling.Incountrieswithhighmunicipalwasterecyclingrates,landfillingisdecliningmuchfasterthanrecyclingisgrowing,aswastemanagementstrategiesusuallymovefromlandfillingtowardsacombinationofrecyclingandincineration,andinmanycasesalsomechanical–biologicaltreatment(EEA,2013).  Almostwithoutexception,thecountriesthatareperformingbetterintermsofrecyclinghaveawiderrangeofmeasuresandinstrumentsinplacethanthepoorerperformingones.Measureshaveincludedlandfillbansonbiodegradablewasteornon-pre-treatedmunicipalwaste;mandatoryseparatecollectionofmunicipalwastetypes,especiallybiowastes;well-functioningextendedproducerresponsibilityschemes;andeconomicinstrumentssuchaslandfillandincinerationtaxesandwastecollectionfeesthatstronglyencouragerecycling(suchaspay-as-you-throwschemes).Otherfactorsthatcanalsocontributetohighrecyclingratesinthecountriesincludehighlevelsofnationalenvironmentalawarenessaswellaseffectiveimplementationofwastemanagementlegislationbythecountry(EEA,2016a). Outlookbeyond2020  The7thEAPdescribesanumberofstepsthatarerequiredtoachieveitsobjectiveofwastebeingmanagedasaresource. TheWasteFramework(EU,2018a),Landfill(EU,2018b)andPackagingandPackagingWaste(EU,2018c)Directiveswereamendedin2018toinclude,interalia,anumberofnewtargetsandmeasuresbeyond2020,whichshouldmovetheEUtowardsthisobjective: targetstoincreasepreparingforreuseandrecyclingofmunicipalwastetoatleast55%ofmunicipalwasteby2025,60%by2030and65 %by2035; targetstoincreaserecyclingofpackagingwastetoatleast65 %by31December2025and70 %by31December2030; atargettoreducelandfilltoamaximumof10 %ofgeneratedmunicipalwasteby2035; abanonlandfillingofwastesuitableforrecyclingeffectivefrom2030; mandatoryseparatecollectionofbio-wasteby31December2023andoftextilesandhazardouswastefromhouseholdsby1stofJanuary2025; minimumrequirementsforallextendedproducerresponsibilityschemes; simplifiedandimproveddefinitionsandharmonisedcalculationmethodsforrecyclingratesthroughouttheEU. Thesuccessofthesetargetsandmeasureswillbekeytothemedium-tolong-termprospectsforachievinganinnovativecirculareconomyinwhichnothingiswasted,asenvisagedby2050inthe7thEAP. Abouttheindicator  Thisindicatorfocusesontherecyclingofmunicipalwaste.Despitethefactthatitrepresentsonlyaround10 %(Eurostat,2018b)oftotalwastegenerationintheEU,municipalwasteisveryvisibleanditsreductionhasthepotentialtoreduceenvironmentalimpact,notonlyintheconsumptionandwastephasesbutalsooverthewholelifecycleoftheproductsconsumed.Municipalwasteconsiststoalargeextentofwastegeneratedbyhouseholds,butitmayalsoincludesimilarwastesgeneratedbysmallbusinessesandpublicinstitutionsthatarealsocollectedbymunicipalities. Recyclingofwasteisdefinedasanyrecoveryoperationbywhichwastematerialsarereprocessedintoproducts,materialsorsubstances,whetherfortheoriginalorotherpurposes.Itincludesthereprocessingoforganicmaterial(e.g.bycompostingordigesting)butdoesnotincludeenergyrecoveryorreprocessingintomaterialsthataretobeusedasfuelsorforbackfillingoperations(EU,2008). Therecyclingrateiscalculatedasthepercentageofmunicipalwastegeneratedthatissubsequentlyrecycled(includingcompostinganddigesting).Therearelimitationsinthecomparabilityofdatabetweencountriesandovertime.Therearealsovariationsinwhatcountriesclassifyasmunicipalwasteand,insomecases,thesedefinitionshavechangedovertime.Inaddition,therearealsovariationsinthecalculationmethod,forexamplewhetherornottheweightofmaterialcollectedbutdiscardedduringtherecyclingprocessisincludedandhowinputsandoutputsofpre-treatmentareallocated. Finally,theindicatorshowstherecyclingrateofmunicipalwastecalculatedusingaconsistentmethod,althoughMemberStatescanchoosebetweenfourdifferentmethodstomonitor recycling ratesinordertomeetthetargetof50 %ofwastetoberecycledandpreparedforreuse(EEA,2015).  Footnotesandreferences EC,2005,CommunicationfromtheCommissiontotheCouncil,theEuropeanParliament,theEuropeanEconomicandSocialCommitteeandtheCommitteeoftheRegions'Takingsustainableuseofresourcesforward:Athematicstrategyonthepreventionandrecyclingofwaste'(COM(2005)666final). EC,2015,CommunicationfromtheCommissiontotheEuropeanParliament,theCouncil,theEuropeanEconomicandSocialCommitteeandtheCommitteeoftheRegions'Closingtheloop—AnEUactionplanforthecirculareconomy'(COM(2015)614final). EC,2018,ReportfromtheCommissiontotheEuropeanParliament,theCouncil,theEuropeanEconomicandSocialCommitteeandtheCommitteeoftheRegionsontheimplementationofEUwastelegislation,includingtheearlywarningreportforMemberStatesatriskofmissingthe2020preparingforre-use/recyclingtargetonmunicipalwaste(COM(2018)656final). EEA,2013,Managingmunicipalsolidwaste—Areviewofachievementsin32Europeancountries,EEAReportNo2/2013,EuropeanEnvironmentAgency. EEA,2015,Waste—Municipalsolidwastegenerationandmanagement,SOERbriefing,EuropeanEnvironmentAgency(https://www.eea.europa.eu/soer-2015/countries-comparison/waste)accessed1March2018. EEA,2016a,'MunicipalwastemanagementacrossEuropeancountries',EuropeanEnvironmentAgency(https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/waste/municipal-waste)accessed1March2018. EEA,2016b,‘Wasterecycling(CSI052/WST005)’,EuropeanEnvironmentAgency(https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/waste-recycling-1)accessed15November2018. ETC/WMGE,2018,ScenariosformunicipalwasterecyclingbasedontheEuropeanReferenceModelonMunicipalWaste.AcontributiontothefirstEarlyWarningreport,EuropeanTopicCentreonWasteandMaterialsinaGreenEconomy(ETC/WMGE)workingpaper(http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/early_warning.htm)accessed16November2018. EU,2008,Directive2008/98/ECoftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncilof19November2008onwasteandrepealingcertaindirectives(OJL312,22.11.2008,p.3-30). EU,2011,CommissionDecision2011/753/EUof18November2011establishingrulesandcalculationmethodsforverifyingcompliancewiththetargetssetinArticle11(2)ofDirective2008/98/ECoftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncilnotifiedunderdocumentC(2011)8165(OJL310,25.11.2011,p.11-16). EU,2013,DecisionNo1386/2013/EUoftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncilof20November2013onaGeneralUnionEnvironmentActionProgrammeto2020'Livingwell,withinthelimitsofourplanet',Annex,paragraph43(d)(OJL354,28.12.2013,p.171-200). EU,2018a,Directive(EU)2018/851oftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncilof30May2018amendingDirective2008/98/EConwaste(OJL150,14.06.2018,p.109-140). EU,2018b,Directive(EU)2018/850oftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncilof30May2018amendingDirective1999/31/EConthelandfillofwaste(OJL150,14.06.2018,p.100-108). EU,2018c,Directive(EU)2018/852oftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncilof30May2018amendingDirective94/62/EConpackagingandpackagingwaste(OJL150,14.06.2018,p.141-154). Eurostat,2018a,Municipalwastebywasteoperations(env_wasmun)(http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do)accessed1March2018. Eurostat,2018b,'Municipalwastestatistics–statisticsexplained'(http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Municipal_waste_statistics)accessed1March 2018. AIRSbriefings AIRS_PO2.1,2018,Resourceefficiency,EuropeanEnvironmentAgency. Environmentalindicatorreport2018 –Insupporttothemonitoringofthe7thEnvironmentActionProgramme,EEAreportNo19/2018,EuropeanEnvironmentAgency Relatedcontent Sortby: Publishingdate Title Interactivecharts DataVisualization MunicipalwasterecycledandcompostedineachEuropeancountry DataVisualization Shareoftreatmentmethodsofmunicipalwaste Relatedbriefings Briefing Waste—municipalsolidwastegenerationandmanagement Relatedpublications Publication Environmentalindicatorreport2018-Insupporttothemonitoringofthe7thEnvironmentActionProgramme ThisreportgivesanoverviewoftheEU’sprogresstowards29environmentalpolicyobjectives.Thesearerelevanttotheachievementofthe7thEnvironmentActionProgramme(EAP)threekeypriorityobjectives:naturalcapital;resource-efficient,low-carboneconomy;andpeople’shealthandwell-being. Publication Environmentalindicatorreport2017—Insupporttothemonitoringofthe7thEnvironmentActionProgramme ThisreportgivesanoverviewoftheEU’sprogresstowards29environmentalpolicyobjectives.Thesearerelevanttotheachievementofthe7thEnvironmentActionProgramme(EAP)threekeypriorityobjectives:naturalcapital;resource-efficient,low-carboneconomy;andpeople’shealthandwell-being. Publication Environmentalindicatorreport2016—Insupporttothemonitoringofthe7thEnvironmentActionProgramme ThisreportexaminesiftheEUanditsimmediateneighboursareontargettoachievingby2020thethreethematicpriorityobjectives(naturalcapital;resourceefficiencyandlowcarboneconomy;healthandwell-being)ofthe7thEnvironmentActionProgramme.Itdoesthatwiththehelpofasetofselectedindicatorsandotherinformation.Thereportalsohighlightstheroleofeco-innovationandgreenfinancetoenablemeetingaspectsoftheresourceefficiencyandlowcarboneconomypriorityobjective. Seealso Folder Wastemanagement Permalinks Permalinktothisversion e465d134b4dc46fa83266edfc00cde79 Permalinktolatestversion 80YQ5XHEMJ Olderversions 29Nov2017- Recyclingofmunicipalwaste 09Dec2016- Recyclingofmunicipalwaste Geographiccoverage Austria Belgium BosniaandHerzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey UnitedKingdom Temporalcoverage 2004-2020 Forreferences,pleasegotohttps://www.eea.europa.eu/airs/2018/resource-efficiency-and-low-carbon-economy/recycling-of-municipal-wasteorscantheQRcode. PDFgeneratedon04Jun2022,02:39AM Topics Topics: Resourceefficiencyandwaste Tags Filedunder: recycling waste municipalwaste Filedunder: recycling, waste, municipalwaste DocumentActions Sharewithothers Eionet EuropeanEnvironmentInformationandObservationNetwork(Eionet) TheEEAalsocontributesto BISE BiodiversityInformationSystemforEurope Climate-ADAPT ClimateAdaptationPlatform Climate-Energy ClimateandEnergyintheEU CopernicusInSitu Copernicusinsitucomponent CopernicusLand Copernicuslandmonitoring EuropeanIndustrialEmissionsPortal EIEP ForestInformationSystemforEurope FISE InformationPlatformforChemicalMonitoring IPCHEM MarineWaterInformationSystemforEurope WISE-Marine FreshWaterInformationSystemforEurope WISE-FreshWater Followus Signuptoreceiveournewsnotifications andourquarterlye-newsletter Contactus KongensNytorv61050CopenhagenK Phonenumber: (+45)33367100 Askyourquestion Mediaenquiries TheEEAisanagencyoftheEuropeanUnion Engineeredby: EEAWebTeam Softwareupdatedon 01June202207:30 fromversion22.5.14 Softwareversion: EEAPloneKGS22.5.18 Codefordevelopers SystemsStatus Legalnotice Creativecommonslicense CMSlogin