Waste production continues to increase in 2018
Environment

The sharpest increases concern the construction sector and the industry. The increase in mineral waste is particularly striking.
The Belgian economy and households together produce now little more than 67 million tonnes of waste.
The quantity of waste produced by Belgian households continues to slightly decrease, despite the growing population.
Table 1
Content
Waste production by economic activity in Belgium (2004-2018, in tonne)n) | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Agriculture | 1,186,645 | 361,825 | 281,291 | 199,322 | 165,462 | 311,833 | 269,192 | 257,587 |
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 |
Table 2
Content
Waste production per type in Belgium (2004-2018, in tonne) | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Discarded equipment, batteries and vehicles | 393,690 | 561,371 | 601,241 | 613,381 | 586,277 | 594,570 | 601,722 | 608,269 |
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 |
Glass | 558,947 | 749,443 | 691,768 | 1,028,468 | 897,699 | 1,110,497 | 1,197,742 | 1,277,398 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Other | 927,932 | 3,625,544 | 1,331,924 | 4,019,059 | 1,622,487 | 1,328,651 | 1,484,987 | 1,747,565 |
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 |
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 |
Plastic waste | 1,332,559 | 631,508 | 1,074,910 | 716,164 | 651,774 | 1,395,460 | 715,624 | 745,450 |
Sorting waste | 922,952 | 1,118,251 | 884,209 | 1,517,065 | 1,439,652 | 1,550,342 | 2,206,244 | 2,214,981 |
Textile | 106,767 | 626,808 | 166,129 | 257,221 | 175,441 | 206,022 | 169,949 | 199,456 |
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 |
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 |
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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