Waste generation and treatment by sector, 1990-2018
The amount of waste generated in 2018 was 61 million tons (excluding contaminated soil, dredged spoils and animal manure). Nearly 93% of the waste generated was recovered; less and less waste is being sent to landfill.
| Target group | Method1) | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2017 | 2018 |
| million kg2 | ||||||
| TOTAL | Total | 50 920 | 63 242 | 60 906 | 61 378 | 61 169 |
| recovery | 31 355 | 50 925 | 53 842 | 57 286 | 56 736 | |
| incineration | 3 885 | 7 083 | 5 240 | 2 290 | 2 131 | |
| landfill | 13 875 | 4 832 | 1 310 | 1 208 | 1 538 | |
| discharge/other3, 4) | 1 805 | 402 | 514 | 594 | 765 | |
| Households | total | 6 195 | 8 650 | 8 823 | 8 325 | 8 362 |
| recovery | 985 | 3 875 | 6 954 | 8 261 | 8 203 | |
| incineration | 1 925 | 3 485 | 1 753 | 22 | 30 | |
| landfill | 3 285 | 1 290 | 72 | 43 | 80 | |
| discharge | 0 | 0 | 43 | 41 | 50 | |
| Traffic and transport | total | 1 285 | 853 | 1 076 | 1 105 | 1 118 |
| recovery | 1 060 | 788 | 694 | 580 | 614 | |
| incineration | 70 | 22 | 260 | 350 | 229 | |
| landfill | 155 | 43 | 25 | 4 | 5 | |
| discharge | 0 | 0 | 98 | 172 | 271 | |
| Agriculture, forestry | total | 2 340 | 2 497 | 2 561 | 2 388 | 2 356 |
| and fisheries | recovery | 1 960 | 2 445 | 2 549 | 2349 | 2 304 |
| incineration | 75 | 43 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| landfill | 305 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 15 | |
| discharge | 0 | 0 | 3 | 26 | 36 | |
| Industry | total | 19 990 | 19 312 | 15 290 | 15 437 | 15 091 |
| (incl. refineries)5) | recovery | 13 880 | 16 464 | 13 551 | 14 185 | 13 854 |
| incineration | 645 | 1 400 | 1 103 | 681 | 650 | |
| landfill | 3 660 | 1 046 | 510 | 417 | 400 | |
| discharge | 1 805 | 402 | 127 | 154 | 187 | |
| Trade, services and | total | 3 990 | 4 894 | 5 376 | 5 681 | 5 788 |
| government | recovery | 740 | 2 726 | 4 217 | 5 317 | 5 375 |
| incineration | 900 | 852 | 866 | 51 | 47 | |
| landfill | 2 350 | 1 316 | 182 | 153 | 187 | |
| discharge | 0 | 0 | 110 | 159 | 180 | |
| Construction | total | 12 690 | 23 800 | 24 528 | 24 669 | 25 122 |
| recovery | 9 315 | 22 720 | 23 986 | 24 236 | 24 477 | |
| incineration | 165 | 210 | 64 | 21 | 25 | |
| landfill | 3 200 | 870 | 455 | 399 | 610 | |
| discharge | 0 | 0 | 22 | 13 | 11 | |
| Energy supply | total | 1 390 | 1 674 | 1 497 | 2 037 | 1 625 |
| recovery | 1 280 | 1 566 | 1 343 | 1 928 | 1 523 | |
| incineration | 25 | 5 | 22 | 10 | 5 | |
| landfill | 85 | 103 | 127 | 93 | 89 | |
| discharge/other | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 8 | |
| Waste water treatment | total | 2 920 | 1 426 | 1 494 | 1 324 | 1 302 |
| plants6) | recovery | 2 075 | 206 | 315 | 128 | 54 |
| incineration | 80 | 1 066 | 1 162 | 1 122 | 1 111 | |
| landfill | 770 | 155 | 17 | 74 | 138 | |
| discharge/other | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Drinking water | total | 125 | 135 | 176 | 276 | 272 |
| supply6) | recovery | 60 | 135 | 167 | 268 | 261 |
| incineration | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| landfill | 65 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 9 | |
| discharge/other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Waste disposal | total | . | . | 56 | 136 | 130 |
| recovery | . | . | 42 | 79 | 71 | |
| incineration | . | . | 4 | 28 | 32 | |
| landfill | . | . | 1 | 5 | 6 | |
| discharge/other | . | . | 10 | 24 | 21 | |
| Source: Rijkswaterstaat, CBS | CBS/okt20/0206 | |||||
| 1) Treatment methods were redefined with the coming into force of the National Waste Management Plan (Landelijk afvalbeheerplan, LAP) and the Environmental Management Act (Wet milieubeheer). 'Recovery' therefore now includes preparation for re-use, recycling, use as fuel and other applications. 2) Excluding contaminated soil, dredged materials and animal manure. 3) The disposal of phosphogypsum was reported as discharge and the discharge of liquid waste streams (after treatment) was reported as recovery up to and including the year 2000. As of 2001, the discharge of liquid waste streams (after treatment) is reported separately as discharge. No phosphogypsum has been discharged since 2001. 4) As of 2003, discharge also includes 'liquid loss' during the drying of liquid waste streams prior to disposal. 5) As of 2004, the use of industrial waste as a fuel for energy generation falls under recovery and no longer under incineration. 6) Waste water treatment plants and the drinking water supply together make up the target group 'Actors in the water chain'. | ||||||
Changes in amount of waste generated
The way in which waste generation and treatment is monitored has changed. Where possible, these changes were implemented from 2006, but some only took effect in 2007 or 2008. The total amount of waste generated is approximately 60 billion kg. About 40% of the waste is generated by the construction sector
Less waste being sent to landfill and more recovered
There has been a considerable decrease in the amount of waste sent to landfill since 1990 (from almost 14 billion kg, to 1.5 billion kg in 2018). By contrast, there has been an increase of almost 25 billion kg in the amount of waste recovered. Almost 56 billion kg was recovered in 2016, nearly 94% of the total amount of waste generated in the Netherlands (excluding contaminated soil, dredged materials and animal manure).
Sources
- Waste data was provided by Rijkswaterstaat and was obtained from various sources, including CBS.
- Rijkswaterstaat (2020). Nederlands afval in cijfers, gegevens 2006-2016. Rijkswaterstaat Leefomgeving, Utrecht
Technical explanation
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Archive of this indicator
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Reference of this webpage
CLO (2020). Waste generation and treatment by sector, 1990-2018 (indicator 0206, version 15, ), www.clo.nl. Statistics Netherlands (CBS), The Hague; PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Hague; RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven; and Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen.