Waste generation

From 2010 to 2018, total waste generation increased by 5.0% (114 million tonnes) in the 27 EU Member States (EU-27). Major mineral wastes, such as hard rocks, concrete, soils and others (that are mainly produced in the mining and construction sectors) feature in big quantities in relation to other waste types. This alters the interpretation of trends. They also usually represent an environmental issue of relatively less concern. If we exclude them from the totals, the remaining waste streams, more environmentally significant, increased even more, by 7.0% (50.3 million tonnes). Unfortunately, the trends observed suggest that the EU is not on track to meet its goal of reducing waste generation. The trends also indicate that the EU, as a whole, is not yet fully implementing the first step of the waste hierarchy - waste prevention - as laid down in the Waste Framework Directive.

Waste generation is increasing in the EU. Reducing this is a primary objective of EU waste and circular economy policies. The EU Waste Framework Directive sets out a waste hierarchy, the guiding principle of EU and national waste policies. The main driver of increasing waste generation is economic growth, with gross domestic product (GDP), the most commonly used indicator of economic growth, increasing by 23% between 2010 and 2018. Population size was relatively stable and thus does not explain the trend. However, while the amount of waste generated grew considerably, it did so at a significantly slower pace than the economy, indicating the relative decoupling of waste generation from economic growth.