Collection of separated household waste in the Netherlands, 1985-2003
Until the latter half of the 1990s, there was a sharp rise in the amount of separated household waste that was collected. In subsequent years, the increase slowed drastically. In 2003, there was even a slight fall.
| Total | among which | ||||||||
| Organic | Glass | Paper, | Textiles | Building and | Bulky | Metals | Minor | ||
| waste | cardboard | demolition | garden waste, | chemical waste | |||||
| waste | incl. | ||||||||
| garden prunings | |||||||||
| millions of kg | |||||||||
| 1985 | 715 | 5 | 177 | 507 | . | 9 | . | 8 | 2 |
| 1987 | 785 | 5 | 182 | 564 | . | 2 | . | 16 | 5 |
| 1989 | 950 | 33 | 215 | 648 | . | 4 | . | 22 | 15 |
| 1991 | 1 540 | 234 | 258 | 738 | . | 69 | . | 25 | 20 |
| 1993 | 2 310 | 874 | 287 | 724 | 24 | 94 | 124 | 26 | 21 |
| 1994 | 2 725 | 1 231 | 298 | 716 | 29 | 115 | 153 | 32 | 21 |
| 1995 | 3 075 | 1 427 | 302 | 727 | 35 | 153 | 244 | 37 | 22 |
| 1996 | 3 355 | 1 459 | 306 | 840 | 41 | 200 | 288 | 42 | 21 |
| 1997 | 3 615 | 1 531 | 316 | 922 | 41 | 253 | 304 | 45 | 22 |
| 1998 | 3 645 | 1 488 | 317 | 1 012 | 43 | 292 | 292 | 56 | 21 |
| 1999 | 3 715 | 1 444 | 321 | 1 038 | 48 | 335 | 332 | 54 | 22 |
| 2000 | 3 795 | 1 457 | 326 | 1 022 | 50 | 362 | 359 | 55 | 21 |
| 2001 | 3 855 | 1 405 | 335 | 1 015 | 50 | 356 | 355 | 59 | 20 |
| 2002 | 3 980 | 1 406 | 343 | 1 006 | 49 | 377 | 401 | 68 | 21 |
| 2003* | 3 930 | 1 371 | 343 | 982 | 52 | 381 | 390 | 68 | 21 |
| Source: CBS. | CBS/EDC/July04/0143 | ||||||||
Almost 45% of waste collected separately
The amount of household waste (non-separated and separated) increased on average between 1995 and 2000 by 250 ktons per year. After 2000, this rate of growth slowed down. In 2003, the total amount of household waste fell slightly compared to the previous year.
The amount of household waste collected separately increased sharply between 1990 and 1997 (this includes both waste that was picked up from households and waste taken to collection locations). One of the reasons for this is that, in the early 1990s, many municipal authorities introduced the separate collection of organic household waste. From 1998 onwards, there was a fall-off in the annual increase. In 2003, there was even a slight fall in the amount of household waste collected separately. The main reason for this is the separate collection of organic household waste. Almost 45% of household waste was collected separately that year.
The trend described above can also be seen in the development of environmentally aware behaviour among consumers.
- See also: Environmentally aware behaviour in the Netherlands, 1994-2002
- See also: Waste generated by households in the Netherlands, 1985-2003
Policy
A range of initiatives have been deployed to encourage the separation of waste by households. One example is the Stimuleringsprogramma Afvalscheiding en afvalpreventie (Waste segregation and waste prevention Incentive Programme - STAP) (AOO, 2001).
Provincial authorities also stimulate an increase in the proportion of separated components in household waste. Municipalities are responsible for the implementation of this policy.
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).
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 graph 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 consists of electronic appliances from the retail trade and used paper and cardboard.
References
- AOO (2001). Stimuleringsprogramma afvalscheiding en afvalpreventie van huishoudelijk afval. Afval Overleg Orgaan, February 2001, Utrecht.
- CBS (2004). StatLine: Gemeentelijke afvalstoffen, hoeveelheden. Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen.
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 processing by target sector in the Netherlands, 1990-2001*
- Waste generated by households in the Netherlands, 1985-2003
- Guide to Environmental theme of Waste management
- Environmentally aware behaviour in the Netherlands, 1994-2002
Relevant information outside of the Environmental Data Compendium
- More information about separated household waste can be found on StatLine (Statistics Netherlands) and at the Waste Management Council (AOO).
- IPO (2002). Interprovinciale rapportage Milieu, Water, Landbouw en Natuur 2002. Association of Provincial Authorities, Lelystad. This report contains an extensive set of provincial data about the environment, water, nature and agriculture for the year 2001.
