Total UK waste generation has decreased by 11.3 per cent between 2004 and 2008.  Out of the sectors generating more than 25mt of waste per year, the Industrial and Commercial sector has seen the biggest percentage change in generation with a decline of 17.3 per cent over the period.

Why is this important – it’s important to have a picture of all waste generated in the UK, by broad sector, to put waste in context.

• In the UK, in 2008, total waste generation was estimated at 288.6 million tonnes (mt)¹. This is a decrease of 6.0 per cent from 2006 (307.1mt) and 11.3 per cent from 2004 (325.3mt).
• In 2008, the largest contributing sector was construction (101.0mt), followed by mining and quarrying (86.0mt), commercial and industrial (67.3mt), household sources (31.5mt) and the remaining generation combined (2.7mt).
• Of the sectors generating more than 25mt a year, the commercial and industrial sector saw the biggest percentage change in generation between 2004 and 2008 with a reduction of 17.3 per cent.

*Other includes healthcare wastes, batteries & accumulators, and wastes containing PCB.

UK waste management

Total waste disposal by management method, UK, 2004-2008

• The proportion of waste deposited onto or into land in the UK has decreased by 11 per cent between 2004 and 2008.
• In contrast, the quantity of waste recovered in the UK (excluding energy recovery), has increased by 50 per cent from 95mt in 2004 to 143mt in 2008.

Data downloads

• Generation of waste by sector
• Generation of waste by type
• Management summary
• Waste sent for recycling by type
• Waste sent for incineration by type
• Waste sent for disposal by type

The key facts publication contains a downloadable version of this page

¹ These figures are lower than the totals supplied to Eurostat under the Waste Statistics Regulation, which also include secondary wastes (e.g. wastes generated by the waste management facilities from processes handling wastes generated elsewhere in the economy). Defra considers this double counting of waste generation and hence exclude such wastes from national reporting.

Downloads

4 August 2011

• wrfg01_rec (xls, 65 KB)
• wrfg01_manage (xls, 94 KB)
• wrfg01_incin (xls, 86 KB)
• wrfg01_gentype (xls, 75 KB)
• wrfg01_gensec (xls, 91 KB)
• wrfg01_disp (xls, 68 KB)