Municipal waste

1.6% increase in municipal waste per capita

Environment
1.6% increase in municipal waste per capita

The average production of municipal waste per capita in Belgium has increased from 683 kg in 2022 to 694 kg in 2023[1]. This is an increase of 1.6%. Nevertheless, the production of waste per capita remains much lower than the 760 kg registered in 2021.

At national level, we registered 7,915 tonnes of municipal waste in 2022 and 8,117 tonnes in 2023. On an annual basis, this is an increase of 2.5%.

In 2023, 45% of municipal waste was incinerated, 34% was recycled, 20% was composted and fermented and 0.1% went to landfills.


[1] Between 2019 and 2020, there is a big break in the figures. The European Union decided to better monitor the transition to a circular economy and the recycling rates in the Member States. The definition of municipal waste was therefore harmonised in all Member States. Municipal waste is now defined as waste from households and waste from other sources, such as retail, administration, education, health services, accommodation and food services, and other services and activities, which is similar in nature and composition to waste from households. Therefore, municipal waste includes, inter alia, waste from park and garden maintenance, such as leaves, grass and tree clippings, and waste from market and street cleaning services, such as the content of litter containers and sweepings except materials such as sand, rock, mud or dust. For Belgium, this means that the source of municipal waste is much wider than in 2019 and before. Waste production (and treatment) is therefore much more significant than before.

Graph
Content
Table 1
Content
in 1000 tons 2020 2021 2022 2023
Collection 8,604 8,753 7,915 8,117
Landfill (a) 42 40 14 10
Total incineration 4,130 3,852 3,652 3,651
of which with energy recovery 4,129 3,850 3,650 3,651
of which without energy recovery   2 1 1
Recycling 2,688 3,017 2,634 2,731
Composting and fermentation 1,790 1,758 1,468 1,613
Note: excluding inert waste.
(a) Including clinker Source (mandatory acknowledgement): Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium) based on administrative databases
Table 2
Content
per capita: kg/capita (b) 2020 2021 2022 2023
Collection 749 779 683 694
Landfill (a) 4 3 1 1
Total incineration 359 370 315 312
of which with energy recovery 359 370 315 312
of which without energy recovery 0 0 0 0
Recycling 234 239 227 233
Composting and fermentation 156 164 127 138
Note: excluding inert waste.
(a) Including clinker (b) Population on 1 January Source (mandatory acknowledgement): Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium) based on administrative databases

Doel en korte beschrijving

Gemeentelijk afval is alle afval verzameld door de gemeentelijke ophaaldiensten, containerparken, straatvegers, … uitgezonderd van de bouwmaterialen. De gegevens bettreffen de selectieve inzameling, verwerking en recyclage van gemeentelijk afval in 1.000 ton en in kg per inwoner..

Populatie

Belgische Staat

Frequentie

Jaarlijks.

Timing publicatie

Resultaten beschikbaar 1 jaar na de referentieperiode

Definities

Productie van afval : Afval verzameld door of voor de gemeenten, door de gemeentelijke ophaaldiensten, containerparken, straatvegers, … uitgezonderd van de bouwmaterialen.

Verbranding : Thermische afvalbehandeling in verbrandingsovens

Afval : Elke stof of elk voorwerp waarvan de houder zich ontdoet of zich moet ontdoen krachtens de geldende nationale bepalingen.

Verbranding met energiewinning ; Verbranding met energiewinning (R1)

Verbranding zonder energiewinning : Verbranding zonder energiewinning (D10)

Storting : Storting op of onder de bodem (bv. in centra voor technische ingraving).(D1 - D7, D12)

Secundaire afval inbegrepen (bev. verbrandingsslakken)

Gerecycleerd : Uitgezonderd compostering

Gecomposteerd of gefermenteerd : Biologisch proces dat erin bestaat om bioafbreekbaar afval een anaërobe of aërobe ontbinding te laten ondergaan wat resulteert in een nuttig product.

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