It is the task of the Federal Statistical Office to summarise and publish the waste quantities collected within the framework of the Environmental Statistics Act. The results of the waste statistics show an increase in waste generation in the last decade, which is mainly due to construction activities.
Table 1 shows that the total amount of waste generated in Germany was about 373 million tonnes in 2010 and rose to about 417 million tonnes in 2018. Construction and demolition waste each account for the majority of the waste generated. The second largest amount of waste is generated in industry and is reported under waste from the manufacturing sector and hazardous waste.
Table 1: Waste generation*) in Germany in the years 2009 to 2017 (in 1 000 t)
|
Waste type |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
Municipal waste |
49 237 |
50 237 |
49 759 |
49 570 |
51 102 |
51 625 |
52 133 |
51 790 |
50 260 |
|
Mining waste |
36 883 |
34 667 |
30 318 |
29 250 |
30 172 |
31 426 |
28 149 |
31 009 |
28 846 |
|
Construction and demolition waste |
193 318 |
199 479 |
199 303 |
202 735 |
209 538 |
208 997 |
222 776 |
220 267 |
228 120 |
|
Waste from production and commerce |
53 255 |
58 390 |
54 218 |
57 123 |
59 508 |
59 218 |
55 852 |
55 794 |
55 086 |
|
Hazardous waste |
21 828 |
23 163 |
23 686 |
23 532 |
23 493 |
23 686 |
24 950 |
25 401 |
25 838 |
|
∑ waste generation |
373 011 |
386 690 |
380 576 |
385 729 |
400 953 |
402 229 |
411 518 |
412 238 |
417 197 |
|
*) Calculations according to the gross principle; cf. explanations on the waste balance. Source: Waste Balance, Federal Statistical Office, 2020 |
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The amount of municipal waste mainly consists of the following waste types: household waste, commercial waste similar to household waste, bulky waste, market waste, garden and park waste, refuse and separately collected recyclable waste such as bio-waste, paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, etc. Table 2 shows that the amount of municipal waste, which was approximately 49.2 million tonnes in 2010, has fluctuated around 50 million tonnes since then and was approximately 50.2 million tonnes in 2018. During the same period, the amount of household waste generated was about 14 million tonnes.
Table 2: Recycling and disposal of municipal waste (in 1000 tonnes)
|
Waste type |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
Household Waste*) |
14 358 |
14 027 |
13 989 |
14 028 |
14 179 |
14 147 |
14 631 |
14 108 |
13 526 |
|
Municipal Waste |
49 237 |
50 237 |
49 759 |
49 570 |
51 102 |
51 625 |
52 133 |
51 790 |
50 260 |
|
total recovered |
37 948 |
39 707 |
41 323 |
43 100 |
45 097 |
46 521 |
49 213 |
50 729 |
49 369 |
|
thereof material |
30 245 |
31 633 |
32 460 |
31 629 |
33 544 |
34 543 |
34 958 |
34 783 |
33 723 |
|
thereof energetic |
7 703 |
8 074 |
8 863 |
11 471 |
11 553 |
12 068 |
14 260 |
15 946 |
15 646 |
|
total disposed |
10 717 |
10 530 |
8 436 |
6 469 |
6 005 |
5 104 |
2 914 |
1 061 |
891 |
|
thereof thermal |
8 513 |
8 425 |
7 341 |
5 236 |
4 765 |
3 917 |
1 992 |
284 |
179 |
|
thereof landfilled |
206 |
247 |
107 |
135 |
123 |
104 |
122 |
123 |
109 |
|
*) Household waste and commercial waste similar to household waste, collected together via the public waste collection service Source: Waste Balance, Federal Statistical Office, 2020 |
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Of the approx. 50 million tonnes of municipal waste generated in 2018, approx. 0.9 million tonnes were disposed of, the rest was mainly sent to recovery plants. The amount of waste destined for disposal decreased continuously from approx. 10 million tonnes in 2010 to approx. 0.9 million tonnes in 2018. Correspondingly, the amount of waste sent for recovery increased from approx. 30 million tonnes to approx. 49 million tonnes in the same period.