63 million tonnes of waste produced in 2022
Environment
In 2022, 63 million tonnes of waste have been produced in Belgium.
81.8% of the waste produced in 2022 came from only two sectors: construction with 41.4% of the waste produced (26 million tonnes) and industry with 40.4% (25 million tonnes).
The service sector accounts for 10.0% of the total waste production (6 million tonnes), followed by households with 7.7% (5 million tonnes) and agriculture with 0.4% (272,374 tonnes).
Table 1
Content
| Waste production by economic activity in Belgium (2004-2022, in tonne)n) | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 53,013,275 | 59,294,999 | 48,615,551 | 61,323,320 | 53,839,470 | 57,965,403 | 63,152,377 | 68,187,479 | 68,061,760 | 62,640,361 |
| 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 | 25,941,002 |
| 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 | 6,286,814 |
| 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 | 4,807,402 |
| Industry | 26,466,600 | 31,138,888 | 23,409,597 | 31,707,672 | 26,611,266 | 29,046,813 | 32,865,656 | 35,431,202 | 37,757,757 | 25,332,770 |
| Agriculture | 1,186,645 | 361,825 | 281,291 | 199,322 | 165,462 | 311,833 | 269,192 | 362,507 | 417,301 | 272,374 |
| Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium) based on surveys, administrative data (OVAM, IBGE-BIM, DGARNE) and models. Meer info en data: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/data |
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Table 2
Content
| Waste production per type in Belgium (2004-2022, in tonne) | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 53,013,274 | 59,294,999 | 48,615,551 | 61,323,320 | 53,839,470 | 57,965,403 | 63,152,377 | 68,187,479 | 68,061,760 | 62,640,361 |
| Discarded equipment, batteries and vehicles | 393,690 | 561,371 | 601,241 | 613,381 | 586,277 | 594,570 | 601,722 | 608,269 | 711,920 | 421,489 |
| 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 | 1,089,563 |
| Glass | 558,947 | 749,443 | 691,768 | 1,028,468 | 897,699 | 1,110,497 | 1,197,742 | 1,277,398 | 1,714,351 | 1,295,906 |
| 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 | 2,574,195 |
| 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 | 4,716,580 |
| 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 | 7,913,678 |
| 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 | 24,671,954 |
| Other | 927,932 | 3,625,544 | 1,331,924 | 4,019,059 | 1,622,487 | 1,328,651 | 1,484,987 | 1,767,406 | 2,112,330 | 1,407,899 |
| 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 | 2,686,775 |
| 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 | 8,818,288 | 8,961,630 | 4,635,222 |
| Plastic waste | 1,332,559 | 631,508 | 1,074,910 | 716,164 | 651,774 | 1,395,460 | 715,624 | 745,450 | 994,897 | 768,882 |
| 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 | 2,291,131 |
| Textile | 106,767 | 626,808 | 166,129 | 257,221 | 175,441 | 206,022 | 169,949 | 199,456 | 179,604 | 167,148 |
| 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 | 520,225 |
| 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 | 7,049,677 | 6,184,530 | 7,479,716 |
| 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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Downloads
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.