Generation of waste 

Updated: 23.11.2012 - Next update: 20.11.2013
   
 
 
Share

Even less municipal waste deposited at landfills

The amount of municipal waste deposited at landfills has decreased already for five years. In year 2011, a total of 1.1 million tonnes waste was deposited at landfills, which includes a fall of nearly 30 per cent from five years ago and a drop of 4.2 per cent from last year. At the same time, the share of landfills in waste treatment decreased by five percentage points. Approximately 206 kilograms of waste per capita was transported to landfills. The corresponding average in the EU Member States is 230 kilograms, but the differences between countries are considerable. For instance, in Germany and Sweden, only a few kilograms of landfill waste is produced per capita.

Households' willingness to sort their waste is high. For instance, according to a recently published Household Budget Survey, over 80 per cent of households sort cartons regularly, while five years ago the share was only 35 per cent. The share of recycling or utilisation of waste material and, in particular, burning in treatment of municipal waste has clearly increased over recent years. However, recycling has not been on a clear growth path, at least not to the extent one could predict based on household behaviour. The share of recycling in waste treatment increased by two percentage points from the previous year. The amount of burnt (energy recovery) municipal waste has tripled in five years but last year the share of burning in treatment only increased by good two percentage points.

Statistical release


Source:
Statistics Finland / Waste statistics

Description of indicator

Municipal waste refers to waste generated in households and waste comparable to household waste generated in production, especially in the service industries. The general common feature of municipal waste is that it is generated in the consumption of final products in communities and is covered by municipal waste management systems. Waste treatment refers to the recovery, neutralisation and final disposal of waste.