Hazardous waste in the Netherlands by sub-stream, 1990-2000
| Waste type | 1990 | 1995 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| million kg | |||||
| Total1) | 622 | 868 | 1 600 | 1 500 | 1 785 |
| Halogen-poor solvents | 29 | 36 | 65 | 58 | 73 |
| Waste containing HHCs | 26 | 25 | 33 | 25 | 38 |
| Photographic waste | 16 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 17 |
| Acids and bases | 31 | 45 | 65 | 65 | 72 |
| Used oil 2) | 53 | 40 | 54 | 54 | 55 |
| Oily sludges | 106 | 104 | 174 | 139 | 165 |
| Paint and ink waste | 25 | 34 | 42 | 38 | 37 |
| Wastewater | 65 | 120 | 308 | 319 | 395 |
| Other organic waste | 95 | 133 | 187 | 163 | 181 |
| C1 waste 3) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C2 waste 3) | 32 | 87 | 100 | 118 | 102 |
| C3 waste 3) | 113 | 109 | 401 | 353 | 483 |
| Contaminated blasting grit | 18 | 29 | 32 | 26 | 23 |
| Ferrous and non-ferrous waste | 6 | 14 | 19 | 26 | 28 |
| Batteries | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Lead batteries | 0 | 25 | 33 | 32 | 29 |
| Gas-discharge lamps | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Specific hospital waste | 0 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Sulphurous waste | 2 | 16 | 32 | 25 | 18 |
| Not classified | 2 | 25 | 25 | 32 | 60 |
| Source: VROM, LMA. | RIVM/EDC/Oct02 | ||||
| 1) Excluding ship-generated waste and contaminated soil. 2) In 1990, waste oil was not formally classified as hazardous waste (which was still defined at that time as chemical waste). 3) C1, C2 and C3 waste is solid inorganic waste (contaminated with heavy metals) which is difficult or impossible to process and which therefore generally needs (or needed) to be sent to landfill. | |||||
Developments in amount of hazardous waste
The registered quantity of hazardous waste has almost tripled since 1990. Some of the C1, C2 and C3 waste is now processed for recovery. The rise in C3 waste is caused mainly by screened sand and crushing sand released by companies processing construction and demolition waste, and by larger quantities of cleaning residues. The increase in the quantity of wastewater is due mainly to the fact that businesses were no longer able to meet the discharge standards and therefore had to drain off contaminated water for physicochemical processing. Most hazardous waste is generated by industry.
Policy
The Environmental Management Act specifies when waste should be deemed hazardous waste and should be registered with the Dutch Waste Administration Office (LMA). Both the structure of the reporting and registration system for hazardous waste and the definition of hazardous waste will change in the near future. This is a result of the introduction of the European waste list and of the transfer of responsibility for reporting and registration from provincial authorities to central government.
Technical note
The usual way of presenting data about hazardous waste is based on classification using the 'sectors' (see also sector plans for hazardous waste in the National Waste Management Plan). It should be pointed out that these sectors correspond to a significant extent to the 'sub-streams' as presented in this indicator. However, the allocation to sectors cannot be projected back into the past. In addition, some of the hazardous waste cannot be allocated to the sectors referred to. On the other hand, sectors sometimes overlap. That is why it has been decided here to present the data on the basis of sub-streams (100% coverage and no overlap).
References
- VROM (2002). Informatiedocument gevaarlijk afval 1998-2000. Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Hague.
Relevant sections and indicators in the Environmental Data Compendium
- Waste Management theme: Dutch policy
- Waste generation and method of processing, 1985-2001
- Hazardous waste in the Netherlands by target sector and branch, 2000
- Hazardous waste in the Netherlands by processing method, 1990-2000
- Emissions and waste by target sector
This section contains data about the waste generated by target sector, such as the industry and consumers target sectors. - Waste management measures
This section describes the measures taken in the Netherlands to process waste.
