You are here:

Municipal Waste Management Statistics 2007/08

   

STATISTICAL RELEASE

Ref: 352/08
Date: 6 November 2008

Defra today published estimates from the Department’s 2007/08 survey of municipal waste. These estimates are based on data submitted by all local authorities to WasteDataFlow. The figures for financial year 2007/08 show a further increase in recycling, a decrease in total municipal waste and a decrease in the amount sent to landfill.

These data replace the provisional estimates published for the first three quarters of 2007/08 in February, May and August. 

Municipal waste arisings and management

The total amount of collected municipal waste has decreased by 0.6 million tones to an estimated 28.5 million tonnes in England in 2007/08 compared to 29.1 million tonnes in 2006/07, a decrease of 2.2 per cent.  The average annual change in municipal waste over the five years to 2007/08 was a decrease of 0.6 per cent.

In total, 45.1 per cent (12.9 million tonnes) of municipal waste had some sort of value (recycling, composting, energy from waste and fuel manufacture) recovered from it in 2007/08, a rise from 41.8 per cent (12.2 million tonnes) in 2006/07.

The proportion of municipal waste being recycled or composted increased from 30.6 per cent in 2006/07 to 34.0 per cent in 2007/08. The proportion of waste incinerated with energy recovery remained the same between 2006/07 and 2007/08 at 11 per cent.

The proportion of municipal waste being disposed of in landfill has continued to decrease from 57.9 per cent in 2006/07 to 54.4 per cent in 2007/08.

The tonnage of municipal waste disposed of into landfill has also decreased again from 16.9 million tonnes in 2006/07 to 15.5 million tonnes in 2007/08.

  1. Household waste and recycling

In 2007/08, household sources accounted for 88.7 per cent of municipal waste, 25.3 million tonnes, which equates to 495 kg of household waste per person, of which 171 kg was recycled.

The amount of waste collected from household sources decreased by 1.9 per cent in 2007/08, from 25.8 million tonnes in 2006/07 to 25.3 million tonnes in 2007/08.  The average annual change in total household waste over the last five years is a decrease of 0.4 per cent.

The proportion of household waste recycled (including composting and reuse) has continued to increase, rising from 30.9 per cent in 2006/07 to 34.5 per cent in 2007/08. This increase in the national recycling rate of 3.6 percentage points is slightly lower than the increase of 4.2 percentage points observed for the last two years.

In absolute terms the amount of household waste sent for recycling or composting has increased by 10 per cent, from 8.0 million tonnes in 2006/07 to 8.7 million tonnes in 2007/08.

The amount of household waste not re-used, recycled or composted was 16.6 million tonnes, a decrease of 7.0 per cent from 2006/07.  This equates to 324kg per person, or 735kg per household, of collected residual household waste.

The chart below shows the changes in household waste and recycling per capita.

householdWaste

Regional variations

There continues to be variations in household recycling and composting rates between different regions with regional recycling rates ranging from less than 30 per cent in London and the North East to over 40 per cent in the East, East Midlands and South West.

The proportion of municipal waste sent to landfill also varies by region from the West Midlands with 37 per cent of their municipal waste going to landfill, to the North West with at 62 per cent.

The tables showing summary estimates, by region, from the 2007/08 WasteDataFlow survey, together with results from earlier years may be found on the Defra web site at:

      www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/index.htm

Table 1 shows a breakdown of municipal waste, by region 2000/01 – 2007/08.
Table 2 shows the management of municipal waste, by region 2000/01 – 2007/08.
Table 3 shows the recycling and recovery rates for household and municipal waste, 2000/01 – 2007/08.
Table 4 shows household waste and recycling per capita and per household, 1983/84 – 2007/08.
Table 5 shows the regional household recycling rates, rates of municipal waste to landfill and residual household waste per household – 2000/01 – 2007/08.
Tables 6-10 shows Tables 1 to 5 broken down into quarters for 2007/08.

Notes to editors

  1. These tables are the final release of data from WasteDataFlow for 2007/08 and are national and regional estimates based on local authority returns in England.
  2. For 2007/08 there was a 100% response rate on WasteDataFlow.  The data entered into WasteDataFlow are also used by the Environment Agency to monitor biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill by local authorities under the Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme.
  3. This is the fourth annual set of results to be produced from the WasteDataFlow system.  Some care should be taken when comparing 2004/05 onwards with previous years results from the Municipal Waste Management Surveys.
  4. Household waste includes household collection rounds (‘bin’ waste), other household collections such as  bulky waste collections,  waste from services such as litter collections, waste from civic amenity sites and wastes separately collected for recycling or composting through bring/drop off schemes, kerbside schemes and at civic amenity sites. Municipal waste is that which comes under the possession or control of the Local Authority and includes household waste and other wastes collected by a waste collection authority or its agents, such as municipal parks and gardens waste, beach cleansing waste, commercial or industrial waste, and waste resulting from the clearance of fly-tipped materials.
  5. The amount of waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting is that which is accepted by the reprocessor. As such it excludes any recycling rejects that occur during collection, sorting or further treatment.  Waste diverted for recycling from the residual stream by further processing is included in the recycling tonnages.

8. Waste Strategy 2007 for England set out targets for the management of municipal and household waste. These include a target to recycle or compost at least 40 per cent of household waste by 2010.  Further information and the 2008 annual progress report can be found on the Defra website.

      www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/strategy/index.htm

  1. The chart showing household waste and recycling figures is also one of the supporting indicators (indicator 19) of sustainable development as set out in the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Strategy, Securing the Future, launched on 7 March 2005.  On 31 July 2008 an update of the national indicators was published both as a free pocket booklet Sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2008 and here on the sustainable development website.

 

A National Statistics publication

National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs.

End

Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR
Out of hours telephone 020 7270 8960

Public enquiries: 08459 335577
News releases available on our website:
www.defra.gov.uk
Defra's aim is sustainable development

Page published: 6 November 2008