A total of 47.9 million tonnes of commercial and industrial (C&I) waste were generated in England in 2009, a decrease from 67.9 million tonnes in 2002-3. C&I waste was roughly evenly split between the commercial and industrial sectors.

Why is this important – Businesses generate approximately one quarter of all waste in England, however, waste is a drag on the economy and business productivity. Businesses can save money by making products with fewer natural resources and can reduce the costs of waste treatment and disposal. Improving the productivity with which natural resources are used can generate new opportunities and jobs.

• In 2009, the industrial sector accounted for 24.1 million tonnes (mt) of waste, a decline of 13.5mt since 2002/3. The commercial sector produced 23.8mt of waste in 2009, a decline of 6.5mt since 2002/3.
• A total of 25.0 mt, or 52 per cent, of C&I waste was recycled or reused in England in 2009, compared to 42 per cent in 2002/3. A total of 11.3 mt, or 24 per cent, of C&I waste was sent to landfill in 2009, compared to 41 per cent in 2002/3.
• Small enterprises, with between 0 and 49 employees, produced 16.6 mt of C&I waste in England, in 2009, or 35 per cent of total C&I waste.

Results revision

The 2009 Commercial and Industrial waste arisings results were published on 16 December 2010. Since publication, it was discovered that some of the waste data for one business in the food, drink and tobacco sector, in the South West, was entered incorrectly, resulting in an overestimate of waste generation by approximately 100,000 tonnes. This also affects the national C&I total waste arisings estimate, the C&I waste management data and some waste types. There has been a correction made to the business sector classification as well which has affected the sector recycling and reuse rates. As a result, the statistical release, data tables and final project report have been revised to remove this error and republished below.   

2009 Survey full report and results

Final results Statistical Release (PDF)
Final results data tables (Excel)
Final project report (PDF)

The key facts publication contains a downloadable version of this page
Next scheduled update tbc

2002/3 Survey results

Commercial and Industrial waste arisings by business sector and waste type: 2002
Commercial and Industrial waste arisings by business sector and waste: 2002
Commercial and Industrial waste arisings by waste type and waste management method: 2002
Commercial and Industrial waste arising and management 1998-9 to 2002-3

Downloads

13 June 2011

• ci statistics release (pdf, 504 KB)
• ci project report (pdf, 2058 KB)
• ci data tables (xls, 183 KB)

18 March 2011

• wrfg03-arising-manage-8903 (xls, 44 KB)