Waste generated by households in the Netherlands, 1985-2003

In the 1990s, the amount of waste from households increased sharply. After 2000, there was a change in the trend. In 2003, less waste was actually collected than in 2002.

	Total	of which
		Non-separated	Non-separated	Separated waste
		household	bulky	collected by or on behalf of
		waste	domestic waste ¹⁾	Municipalities	Other ²⁾

	millions of kg

1985	5 375	4 665 ³⁾		715	.
1987	5 890	5 105 ³⁾		785	.
1989	6 330	5 385 ³⁾		950	.
1991	6 785	4 385	860	1 470	75
1993	7 165	4 005	850	2 235	75

1994	7 230	3 650	855	2 650	75
1995	7 320	3 430	810	3 000	75
1996	7 555	3 480	725	3 270	85
1997	7 945	3 550	775	3 525	90
1998	8 060	3 650	770	3 575	70

1999	8 390	3 815	785	3 715	75
2000	8 650	3 935	845	3 795	75
2001	8 620	3 965	845	3 735	75
2002	8 715	3 940	800	3 880	95
2003*	8 580	3 880	765	3 835	95

Source: CBS; RIVM.				CBS/EDC/July04/0140
1) Including non-separated building and demolition waste. 2) Such as retail trade. 3) Including non-separated bulky waste.

Waste separation stabilising

After a period in which the amount of waste from households increased every year, growth levelled off after 2000. In 2003, the total amount of household waste actually fell slightly compared to the previous year.
The amount of household waste separated before collection increased sharply in the 1990s. This is primarily the result of the separate collection of organic household waste, which started in the early 1990s. This trend stabilised after 1998. In 2003, slightly less waste was actually collected in separated form than in 2002.
See also: Collection of separated household waste in the Netherlands, 1985-2003

Policy

The separate collection of waste components is designed to stimulate reuse. The government's aim is to reduce the amount of waste going to incineration or landfill.

Technical note

The table provides information about the household waste collected by the municipal cleaning services or by private companies on behalf of municipalities. The table also includes a number of separated waste flows not collected by municipalities (such as paper and cardboard collected by clubs and schools).

Non-separated household waste (also known as 'residual waste') is waste collected in bin bags and grey wheely bins. In addition, household waste is broken down into non-separated bulky waste (the non-separated waste that does not fit into bin bags or grey wheely bins) and waste separated before collection (various categories such as glass and paper).

The figures in StatLine about household waste (CBS, 2004) differ from the data presented here. This difference is mainly caused by the allocation of the building and demolition waste collected by the municipal authorities and waste collected by third parties. In StatLine, the building and demolition waste collected by municipal authorities is classified as household waste. In the table above, only half of the building and demolition waste collected by municipal authorities is considered to be household waste; it is assumed that the remainder is really business waste (mainly from building contractors). The waste collected by third parties mainly includes electronic appliances from the retail trade and used paper and cardboard.

References

CBS (2004). StatLine: Gemeentelijke afvalstoffen, hoeveelheden. Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen.
RIVM (2001). Monitoring prioritaire afvalstoffen 1999. RIVM, Bilthoven.

Relevant sections and indicators in the Environmental Data Compendium

Guide to societal developments relating to consumers for data about volume developments in the target sector.
Waste generation and method of processing by target sector
Collection of separated household waste
Guide to the environmental theme of Waste Management

Relevant information outside of the Environmental Data Compendium

More information about household waste can be found on StatLine (Statistics Netherlands) and at the Waste Management Council (AOO).