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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.

 Totalof which   
  Non-separated Non-separated Separated waste
  householdbulky collected by or on behalf of
  wastedomestic waste 1)Municipalities Other 2)
      
 millions of kg   
      
19855 3754 665 3) 715.
19875 8905 105 3) 785.
19896 3305 385 3) 950.
19916 7854 3858601 47075
19937 1654 0058502 23575
      
19947 2303 6508552 65075
19957 3203 4308103 00075
19967 5553 4807253 27085
19977 9453 5507753 52590
19988 0603 6507703 57570
      
19998 3903 8157853 71575
20008 6503 9358453 79575
20018 6203 9658453 73575
20028 7153 9408003 88095
2003*8 5803 8807653 83595
      
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


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
This page was last changed on November 18, 2005  (version 01).