Defra has published estimates from the Department’s 2008/09 survey of municipal waste. These estimates are based on data submitted by all local authorities to WasteDataFlow. The figures for financial year 2008/09 show a further increase in recycling, a decrease in total municipal waste and a decrease in the amount sent to landfill.

Municipal waste arisings and management

The total amount of collected municipal waste has decreased by 1.2 million tonnes to an estimated 27.3 million tonnes in England in 2008/09 compared to 28.5 million tonnes in 2007/08, a decrease of 4.1 per cent. The average annual change in municipal waste over the five years to 2008/09 was a decrease of 1.2 per cent.

In total, 49.0 per cent (13.4 million tonnes) of municipal waste had some sort of value (recycling, composting, energy from waste and fuel manufacture) recovered from it in 2008/09, a rise from 45.1 per cent (12.9 million tonnes) in 2007/08.

The proportion of municipal waste being recycled or composted increased from 34.0 per cent in 2007/08 to 36.9 per cent in 2008/09. The proportion of waste incinerated with energy recovery increased, from 11.1 per cent in 2007/08 to 12.2 per cent in 2008/09.

The proportion of municipal waste disposed in landfill has continued to decrease, from 54.4 per cent in 2007/08 to 50.3 per cent in 2008/09.

The tonnage of municipal waste disposed of into landfill has also decreased again, from 15.5 million tonnes in 2007/08 to 13.8 million tonnes in 2008/09.

Household waste and recycling

In 2008/09, household sources accounted for 89.0 per cent of municipal waste arisings (24.3 million tonnes), or 473 kg of household waste per person, of which 178 kg was recycled. This equates to 1072 kg per household, of which 403 kg was recycled.

The amount of waste collected from household sources decreased by 3.8 per cent in 2008/09, from 25.3 million tonnes in 2007/08 to 24.3 million tonnes in 2008/09. The average annual change in total household waste over the last five years is a decrease of 0.9 per cent.

The proportion of household waste recycled (including composting and reuse) has continued to increase, rising from 34.5 per cent in 2007/08 to 37.6 per cent in 2008/09. This increase in the national recycling rate of 3.1 percentage points is slightly lower than the increase of 3.6 percentage points observed in 2007/08 and 4.2 percentage points in each of the two years prior to that.

In absolute terms the amount of household waste sent for recycling or composting has increased by 4.7 per cent, from 8.7 million tonnes in 2007/08 to 9.1 million tonnes in 2008/09.

Household waste not re-used, recycled or composted is described as residual (or ‘black bag’) waste. In 2008/9 the amount of household residual waste collected was 15.2 million tonnes, a decrease of 8.3 per cent from 2007/08. This equates to 295kg per person, or 669kg per household.

The tables showing summary estimates, by region, from the 2008/09 WasteDataFlow survey, together with results from earlier years may be found on the Defra web site at defra.gov.uk/evidence. More information and tables under defra.gov.uk/news.

Quelle: Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (defra)

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