Waste production remained stable in 2020
In 2020, 68 million tonnes of waste have been produced in Belgium. This is a stagnation compared to 2018.
Increases in waste production from agriculture (+15%), households (+9%) and industry (+7%) were offset by decreases of 21% and 9% respectively in the service and construction sectors.
Industry is the sector producing the most waste with 37 million tonnes followed by construction (20 million tonnes) and households (5.3 million tonnes).
| Waste production by economic activity in Belgium (2004-2020, in tonne)n) | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 53,013,275 | 59,294,999 | 48,615,551 | 61,323,320 | 53,839,470 | 57,965,403 | 63,152,377 | 67,429,779 | 68,061,760 |
| Construction | 11,051,218 | 13,089,649 | 15,441,861 | 16,852,662 | 17,132,769 | 18,347,259 | 19,573,149 | 22,658,151 | 20,727,780 |
| Services | 8,971,810 | 9,959,475 | 5,023,641 | 6,697,911 | 4,635,229 | 4,840,455 | 5,403,172 | 4,850,496 | 3,816,533 |
| Households | 5,337,002 | 4,745,162 | 4,459,161 | 5,865,753 | 5,294,743 | 5,419,043 | 5,041,208 | 4,885,123 | 5,342,388 |
| Industry | 26,466,600 | 31,138,888 | 23,409,597 | 31,707,672 | 26,611,266 | 29,046,813 | 32,865,656 | 34,778,422 | 37,757,757 |
| Agriculture | 1,186,645 | 361,825 | 281,291 | 199,322 | 165,462 | 311,833 | 269,192 | 257,587 | 417,301 |
| Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium) based on surveys, administrative data (OVAM, IBGE-BIM, DGARNE) and models. More info and data: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/data |
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| Waste production per type in Belgium (2004-2020, in tonne) | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 53,013,274 | 59,294,999 | 48,615,551 | 61,323,320 | 53,839,470 | 57,965,403 | 63,152,377 | 67,429,779 | 68,061,760 |
| Discarded equipment, batteries and vehicles | 393,690 | 561,371 | 601,241 | 613,381 | 586,277 | 594,570 | 601,722 | 608,269 | 711,920 |
| Chemical waste | 2,321,340 | 1,533,581 | 1,261,224 | 1,242,321 | 1,399,226 | 1,306,914 | 1,569,842 | 1,735,627 | 1,560,911 |
| Glass | 558,947 | 749,443 | 691,768 | 1,028,468 | 897,699 | 1,110,497 | 1,197,742 | 1,277,398 | 1,714,351 |
| Wood | 2,041,821 | 1,796,909 | 1,572,776 | 2,820,175 | 2,980,026 | 3,382,032 | 3,723,370 | 3,956,126 | 4,148,524 |
| Household waste | 6,468,087 | 5,019,784 | 3,608,476 | 3,835,660 | 3,816,887 | 4,111,683 | 3,889,514 | 4,211,739 | 4,648,978 |
| Metal waste | 2,339,926 | 5,602,560 | 3,931,266 | 6,804,239 | 3,371,153 | 3,116,369 | 3,331,534 | 3,395,379 | 3,460,701 |
| Mineral waste | 16,469,409 | 24,466,641 | 19,068,072 | 18,675,216 | 18,342,580 | 19,095,114 | 21,620,959 | 24,583,667 | 23,963,102 |
| Other | 927,932 | 3,625,544 | 1,331,924 | 4,019,059 | 1,622,487 | 1,328,651 | 1,484,987 | 1,747,565 | 2,112,330 |
| Paper and cardboard | 3,114,551 | 4,523,967 | 3,542,574 | 4,325,031 | 3,922,146 | 4,273,142 | 3,580,661 | 3,380,865 | 3,940,453 |
| Vegetable and animal waste | 6,887,338 | 4,389,886 | 4,259,441 | 4,795,530 | 4,979,570 | 5,654,086 | 6,726,240 | 8,733,209 | 8,961,630 |
| Plastic waste | 1,332,559 | 631,508 | 1,074,910 | 716,164 | 651,774 | 1,395,460 | 715,624 | 745,450 | 994,897 |
| Sorting waste | 922,952 | 1,118,251 | 884,209 | 1,517,065 | 1,439,652 | 1,550,342 | 2,206,244 | 2,214,981 | 2,356,312 |
| Textile | 106,767 | 626,808 | 166,129 | 257,221 | 175,441 | 206,022 | 169,949 | 199,456 | 179,604 |
| Combustion waste | 5,482,292 | 2,927,243 | 1,764,554 | 2,135,207 | 3,862,168 | 4,231,490 | 6,126,625 | 4,243,150 | 3,123,516 |
| Contaminated soil, common sludge and dredging spoil | 3,645,663 | 1,721,503 | 4,856,988 | 8,538,583 | 5,792,385 | 6,609,033 | 6,207,363 | 6,396,897 | 6,184,530 |
| Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium) based on surveys, administrative data (OVAM, IBGE-BIM, DGARNE) and models. More info and data: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/data |
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Survey on waste
Purpose and brief description
Waste statistics cover all production and processing of waste in Belgium. This concerns industry, agriculture, households, services and waste management enterprises. Obviously, not everyone is surveyed. By means of samples, administrative sources and models, the administrative burden on enterprises is kept to a minimum.
Periodicity
Biennial.
Population
Survey among enterprises.