ETC/SCP working paper 5/2010 Europe as a Recycling Society The European Recycling Map Prepared by: Christian Fischer and Claus Davidsen European Topic Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production June, 2010 Project manager: Pinar Erol European Environment Agency
Author affiliation Christian Fischer, Copenhagen Resource Institute and Claus Davidsen, http://www.cri.dk/ Context The Topic Centre has prepared this working paper for the European Environment Agency (EEA) under its 2009 work programme as a contribution to the EEA's work on waste analyses. DISCLAIMER This ETC/SCP working paper has not been subjected to European Environment Agency (EEA) member country review. Please note that the contents of the working paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the EEA ETC/SCP 2010 European Topic Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production Højbro Plads 4 DK-1200 Copenhagen K Phone: +45 72 54 61 60 Fax: +45 33 32 22 27 Email: etc@etc.mim.dk Website: http://scp.eionet.eu.int 2
Contents 1. Introduction...5 2. Recycling in an European context...6 2.1. The introduced recycling legislation in the EU... 6 2.2. How much of the waste is regulated by recycling targets?... 9 3. The recycling pattern in the EU U...11 3.1. Sources for information about recycling...11 3.2. The European Recycling Map...11 3.3. Common characteristics of the countries recycling level...18 3.4. Conclusion on the recycling patterns in Europe...19 References...21 Annex I...22 3
Summary This paper provides a mapping overview of the present state of recycling levels in the EU Member States and in the European Environment Agency member countries. It describes which waste streams have been regulated with EU recycling targets and how much are we currently recycling. It includes recycling on the following waste streams: Biodegradable Municipal Waste; Construction & Demolition Waste; End-of Life-Vehicles; Packaging Waste; Municipal Waste and Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment. The paper does not cover the national policies and strategies behind the different recycling levels. This question is covered by another paper made by the ETC/SCP. The paper addresses whether countries with high recycling levels in one waste stream also perform well in others.the paper concludes that the European countries can be divided into three categories regarding recycling levels: I: Countries with high or very high recycling rates on municipal waste, packaging waste, End-of Life-Vehicles and Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment but larger variations on recycling level of construction and demolition waste. II: Countries with medium recycling levels on municipal waste, packaging waste and for End-of Life-Vehicles and for some countries also for Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment and construction demolition waste. III: Countries with lower or quite low recycling levels of municipal waste and packaging waste. Most of these have very high recycling levels of End-of Life- Vehicles and some also have high recycling levels on Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment but low levels of collection of Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment. Annex I includes more detailed data of recycling levels in each of the countries including Accumulators & Batteries 4
1. Introduction In 2005 the EU formulated a vision the EU as a recycling society 1. This is a very ambitious vision, but also a very necessary if we want a more sustainable society with less use of virgin materials, less use of energy and GHG emissions and less polluting emissions to soil, water and air. But what is the present state of recycling in the EU and in the EEA member countries? How much are we currently recycling and which kinds of waste streams have been regulated with recycling targets? This paper provides this overview and also shows some of the differences in recycling levels between the countries. Do countries with high recycling levels in one waste stream also perform well in others or are there differences among the waste types? The report is a follow up to a working paper the ETC/SCP made for the EEA that covered recycling of municipal waste and construction and demolition waste. 2 The present paper includes recycling on the following waste streams: Biodegradable Municipal Waste; Construction & Demolition Waste; End-of Life-Vehicles; Packaging Waste; Municipal Waste and Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment. Annex I includes more detailed data of recycling levels in each of the countries including Accumulators & Batteries. The paper does not cover the national policies and strategies behind the different recycling levels, but it does include the different recycling targets introduced by the EU. Neither does the paper cover the achieved benefits of GHG reduction due to better recycling. These two questions are covered by other papers made by the ETC/SCP. 1 A Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste ; COM (2005), 666 final 2 EU as a recycling society- Present recycling levels of Municipal Waste and Construction & Demolition Waste in the EU, ETC/SCP April 2009 5
2. Recycling in an European context In the last fifteen years the EU Member States and the member countries of the EEA have succeeded in changing waste management. We recycle more waste now compared to the middle of the 1990s. There is still a long way to go but we have started to move the tanker. 2.1. The introduced recycling legislation in the EU All Member States of the EU and of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) are bound by the principles and targets introduced by EU waste legislation. Figure 1 shows the waste management legislation introduced by the EU during the last 35 years. It is reasonable to differentiate between two different periods; the years before and the years after 1990. The EU legislation on waste from 1975 to 1990 was dominated by administrative requirements, for example: Member States must make waste management plans, EU has to establish a European Waste List and Member States have to transpose it, Member States shall secure that producers, collectors and treaters of waste maintain a record of waste quantities, Member States shall secure that establishments undertaking waste treatment obtain a permit. Before 1990 no binding obligation on how to treat waste was introduced by the EU apart from refining waste oil. However, the period from 1990 to 2008 has been characterised by: Introduction of emissions standards and technical requirements for treatment plants such as incineration and co-incinerations plants and landfills, Restriction of the quantity of biodegradable municipal waste allowed to end in landfills in the period 2006 to 2016, with a possibility of a prolongation period of four years, Introduction of a huge range of recycling initiatives and targets in different directives: The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (1994, 2004), the End of Life Vehicles Directive (2000), the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2002), the Thematic Strategy on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste (2005), the Batteries and Accumulators and Waste Batteries and Accumulators Directive (2006) and the Waste Framework Directive targeting construction and demolition waste and waste from households (2008). Even before the EU initiatives, some Member States had already taken national initiatives in order to increase recycling, although it was limited to a few front runner countries. Most countries were inspired primarily by the initiatives taken by the EU. It is important to remember, when looking at present recycling levels, that it is only 15 years since the start of the EU started the political process of formulating binding waste management recycling targets and to move the tanker in the direction of a recycling society. The main elements in the EU recycling targets are shown in table 1. Only targets for which the fulfilling year is 2006 or later are included. This means that the recycling targets for packaging waste, which had to be achieved by 2004, are not indicated. 6
Figure 1 EU Waste Management Legislation 1975 Community Waste Strategies Com (96)399, 30 July 1996 Com (2005)666, 21 Dec.2005 Framework Legislation Waste Framework Directive, 2008/98/EC replacing 75/442/EEC & 91/156/EEC Regulation on Shipment of Waste 1013/2006/EC Waste Treatment Operation Incineration Incineration of Waste 2000/76/EC Landfill Landfill of Waste 1999/31/EC Recycling obligations for specific waste streams Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC Household, construction & demolition waste Waste oils 75/439/EEC Sewage sludge 75/439/EEC Batteries 2006/66/EC Packaging 94/62/EC 2004/12/EC PCBs 96/59/EC End of Life Vehicles 2000/53/EC WEEE 2002/96/EC 2002/95/EC European Topic Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ETC/SCP) 9
Table 1. Some main EU Waste Management Targets Year Min. Recovery Min. Recycling Collection rate Packaging, total 2008 60% 55% Packaging, glass 2008 60% Packaging, paper and cardboard 2008 60% Packaging, metals 2008 50% Packaging, plastics 2008 22.5% Packaging, wood 2008 15% End of Life Vehicles 2006 85% incl. Reuse 80% incl. Reuse 100% End of Life Vehicles 2015 95% incl. Reuse 85% incl. Reuse 100% WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) 2006 Min. 4 kg per inhabitant per year WEEE, category 1 and 10* 2006 80% 75% WEEE, category 3 and 4* 2006 75% 65% WEEE, 2,5, 6, 7 and 9* 2006 70% 50% WEEE, gas discharge lamps 2006 80% inc. Reuse Batteries, lead acid and accumulators 2011 65% efficiency Batteries, nickel-cadmium and accumulators 2011 75% efficiency Other batteries and accumulators 2011 50% efficiency Batteries 2012 25% Batteries 2016 45% Tyres 2006 2006 Biodegradable waste diverted from 2009 landfills 2016 New targets included in 2015 Zero landfill of tyres Reduction to 75% of the 1995 level Reduction to 50% of the 1995 level Reduction to 35% of the 1995 level Separate collection: At least paper/metal/plastic/glass Waste Framework Directive 2020 50% overall of household waste (glass, metal, paper and plastic) 2020 70% construction and demolition waste (excl. Soil and stone) 8
The included targets are related to: type of waste, latest year for implementation, recycling level, recovery level, and other relevant information (for example, rate of collection) The recycling targets differ from waste type to waste type and usually reflect the ease of collection and sorting, including technical and economical considerations. Packaging glass waste, for example, is in general easier to collect and sort out for proper recycling than for example packaging plastic waste. The recycling targets for Accumulators and Batteries, ELV and WEEE were introduced together with producer responsibility for these waste streams. For the other binding recycling targets there is no obligatory producer responsibility. 2.2. How much of the waste is regulated by recycling targets? Another way to present recycling obligations is to look at how much of the generated waste is regulated by binding EU recycling targets. EEA countries generate approximately 2.8 billion tonnes of waste per year. Table 2 shows that in EU a total of around 1.25 billion of tonnes, or over 40% of the waste generation, will be regulated by binding EU requirement targets for recycling and recovery by 2020. Table 2. Amount of waste regulated by EU recycling directives and amount currently achieved in 2006-2007 Recycling currently achieved Recycling Generation Not recycled target EU Million tonnes Million tonnes Million tonnes % % Packaging waste 82.3 48.1 34.1 55 58.7 ELV 6.1 4.5 1.6 80 73.8 WEEE* 6.7 1.5 5.2 50-75 22.8 MSW 258 97.0 161.2 37.6 Achieved recycling rate Construction and Demolition waste including soil** 896 554*** 342 70*** 61.8 Total waste targeted with EU recycling targets 1,249 705 544 56.4 Total waste in the EU 2,800 1,070 1,730 38.2 Table 2. Amount of waste streams covered by EU legislation for treatment including binding percentages for how much of the waste has as a minimum to be recycled or recovered, or the maximum of waste that can be landfilled. (Eurostat, 2009, DG Environment, ETC/SCP, 2009, JRC-IPTS, 2009). MSW and Packaging waste data are from 2007. ELV and WEEE data are from 2006. Total waste in the EU data is from 2006. Construction and demolition waste data are mainly from 2006. * Only 18 countries have reported recycling of WEEE. The WEEE generation figure covers amount put on the market. **Soil is included in the figures but excluded in the new recycling target for construction and demolition waste of 70% by 2020.*** The recycling figures for construction and demolition waste includes backfilling operations using waste to substitute other materials. However, recycling of soil and stone is not counted in the new recycling target. At the moment it is estimated that approximately 700 million tonnes of the waste covered by recycling targets in EU Directives is recycled. A part of the recycling of the 700 million tonnes is recycling of soil and stone or backfilling operations. Backfilling operations are not defined as recycling according to the Waste Framework Directive but as other material recovery. Further, there is some double counting, especially between packaging waste and municipal waste. This means that roughly 50% of the amount
regulated by directives is recycled. The quantity of waste that is recycled will increase in the future when the targets in the different directives are fully implemented toward 2020. 10
3. The recycling pattern in the EU 3.1. Sources for information about recycling The data used for estimating the recycling pattern in the EU are from three main sources: Data reported by member countries to Eurostat regarding recycling of total waste, packaging waste, end-of-life-vehicle (ELV) and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Recycling data found by the ETC/SCP in national reports and statistics regarding construction and demolition waste, certain municipal waste types such as glass waste, paper &cardboard waste, bio waste (garden and kitchen waste), wood waste, metal waste, plastic waste. Recycling data found at different sources about recycling of batteries and accumulators. No official recycling data are available. Not all countries have reported data on ELV and WEEE to Eurostat. Similarly, it has not been possible for the ETC/SCP to find data for all countries about the composition of recycling of municipal waste and construction and demolition waste. The figures below show recycling for the above mentioned waste streams on an aggregated level, with the exception of batteries and accumulators. The recycling levels for the different waste types are shown on maps using the same colour scale. Dark green is indicating a very high rate of recycling and dark red is indicating a very low rate. However, for recycling of biodegradable waste the rate in indicated in kilo per capita. If no data are available for a country, this is indicated by using a white colour. Annex I gives more detailed information on the composition of waste recycling within each waste type for each country. Annex I also shows the information found on individual country recycling rates for Accumulators and Batteries. 3.2. The European Recycling Map Figure 2 shows the overall recycling rate for all waste streams. The colour varies from dark green to dark red and indicates a huge variation among the countries in the recycling rate. However, only seven countries have a recycling rate over 50%. The majority of countries recycle under 35% of their total generated waste. It seems that the countries with highest levels are situated in the Inner part of Europa, whereas the countries on the periphery have lower recycling levels. It must also be underlined that comparison of total waste recycling must be viewed with caution, as it seems different types of waste are included in the reporting to Eurostat. 11
Figure 2. Recycling rate of total waste generation in 2006 Source: Eurostat, 2009 Figure 3 shows a well defined waste stream: Total Packaging Waste. In general the recycling rates are quite high in all countries. In 2007, all but one country had a rate over 30% and 15 countries more than 55%, cf. the target stated in table 1. The highest rates are found in the Northern countries, Benelux and the Western part of Central Europe. The lowest rate is in the Eastern part of Europe. Figure 3. Recycling rate of total packaging waste in 2007 Source: Eurostat, 2009a The recycling and reuse of end-of-life vehicles (ELV) is shown in figures 4. The ELV Directive sets a recycling plus reuse target for ELV of 80% for 2006. The map is very green in its colour indicating a high recycling and reuse percentages of ELV for all countries. There is not a very large differentiation of the rates among the countries. The lowest rate is 70%. 12
Figure 4. Recycling+ reuse rate of end-of-life vehicles in 2007 Source: Eurostat, 2009b Figure 4 is using the same scale as the other maps. Since there is only a minor differentiation between the countries in the achieved recycling+reuse rates, it is relevant to show the rates on a more detailed level. Figure 5 shows the rates based on a more detailed scale using values between 75% and 85%. Figure 5. Recycling+ reuse rate of end-of-life vehicles in 2007 shown at detailed scale Source: Eurostat, 2009b The figure naturally shows more differentiation between the countries. It is important to notice that of the 27 reporting countries, 24 have a rate over 80% and therefore fulfil the ELV Directive target. Among the nine countries with highest recycling rates seven are from the new Member States. In that way the ranking is opposite the one, which was shown for total waste and packaging waste. One reason for this could be that 75% of the weight of a car is steel or aluminium. Since these metals generally have a good economic value, there is an economic incentive for recycling and reuse, which can explain the quite high recycling and reuse rate. 13
Figure 6 shows the rate of total recycling and reuse of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Only 18 countries have reported data for 2006. The map shows some diversion in the recycling rates, since a few of the countries have a lower rate. However, in general, the reporting countries have a high rate even if the level is not as high as for ELV. Of the reporting countries, 13 have a rate between 77% and 94% indicating that these countries have achieved the recycling and reuse targets set for different WEEE categories, cf. table 1. Three out of the five countries with highest recycling rates are from Eastern and Southern European countries Figure 6. Recycling and reuse rate of total Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in 2006 Source: Eurostat, 2009c The three main materials arising from WEEE are metals, glass and plastics. Ferrous metals account for approximately 50%, non-ferrous metals for 5% and plastics for 20-25% of the WEEE arising. Compared to ELV the material composition of WEEE in weight is more complex, which also makes it more difficult to recycle and reuse. Another target in the WEEE Directive is the amount of minimum 4 kg WEEE collected per capita from private households. Figure 7 includes 21 countries and shows that only 10 countries have fulfilled the target (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden). Countries not fulfilling the target include France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The rest of the countries have not reported. Figure 7. Collection per capita of total Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in 2006
Source: Eurostat, 2009c The low collection rates in figure 7 compared with the high recycling rates in figure 6 indicate that many countries with high recycling rates also have low collection rates. In that way the picture of high recycling rates in some countries is not so convincing, since the actual amount of WEEE treated is low. However, the low amount of WEEE collected and recycled can also be due to a low or lower consumption of electrical and electronic equipment. In table 3 the recycled amount is related to the amount put on the market in 2006. Even though it is not likely that electrical and electronic products put on the market in 2006 will be WEEE in the same year, table 2 indicates that the low amount of total WEEE collected and recycled in some countries is not due to low consumption of electrical and electronic products. Further, the countries with highest collection of WEEE per capita have also the highest percentage of recycled WEEE related to electrical and electronic products put on the market. Table 3. Amount of total WEEE recycled in percentage of EEE put on the market in 2006 Country Recycling Recycling Put on Put on Recycling and reuse Recycling and reuse the the and reuse. rate (of put Country and reuse. rate (of put market. market. Kg/cap on the Kg/cap on the Kg/cap Kg/cap market) % market) % Norway 40,3 17,5 43,5 Hungary 13,5 1,8 13,6 Sweden 25,0 13,6 54,1 Lithuania 14,6 1,7 11,9 Denmark 32,0 8,9 27,7 Slovakia 9,6 1,3 13,9 Germany 22,3 7,3 32,7 Greece 15,8 0,8 5,3 Luxembourg 16,9 7,3 42,9 Portugal 11,7 0,4 3,1 Austria 19,0 6,0 31,7 Poland 22,7 0,2 0,9 Finland 26,5 6,0 22,5 France 23,5 0,1 0,3 Belgium 23,8 5,6 23,4 Estonia 13,6 n.a. n.a. Italy n.a. 5,0 n.a. Romania 6,5 n.a. n.a. Netherlands 9,9 4,5 45,6 Slovenia 13,6 n.a. n.a. Spain 11,7 2,5 21,7 Source: Eurostat, 2009c Figure 8. Recycling rate of municipal waste in 2007 Source: Eurostat and for Luxembourg, Norway and the Czech Republic ETC/SCP, 2009. Figure 8 shows that the recycling rate of municipal waste differs very much across Europe. In general, the old EU Member Countries in Northern part of Europe, Benelux 15
and Western part of Central Europe has very high or high level of recycling. Apart from Italy the southern countries and Eastern European Countries have a lower or very low level. A group of countries with a very high level (> 50%): Austria, Belgium and Germany A group of countries with a high level (40%-50%): Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the Netherlands A group of countries, which have a medium level (25%-40): Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Spain and United Kingdom A group of countries, which have a lower level (10%-25%): The Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, and Portugal A group of countries, which have a low level (<10%); Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania However, even if some countries have a medium or lower rate of recycling of municipal waste, some countries have increased their rate very much since 2000. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom have increased their level of recycling at over 1.0 percentage points per year. Further, figure 9 shows the composition of recycled municipal waste. The data is based on recycling of municipal waste in the countries in the years 2005 and 2006 and the source for the data is ETC/SCP, 2009, cf. also annex 1. The data are not fully the same as the ones included in figure 8. The recycling of paper and cardboard, and bio waste in the form of green kitchen waste and garden waste constitute the largest part of recycling in countries, which are characterised with very high or high recycling level of municipal waste in figure 8. Figure 9. Composition of recycled municipal waste indicated in kilogram per capita Kilo per capita 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Austria Belgium Cyprus Czech Republic Source: ETC/SCP, 2009 Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Netherland s Norway Poland Portuga l Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom EU25+N orway Paper and Cardboard Bio waste Glass, metals and plastics Bulky waste Others + no information about type Figure 10 shows the recycling of biodegradable municipal waste in kilogram per capita. The figures include recycling of paper and cardboard waste, wood waste and biowaste in the form of green kitchen waste and garden waste. The recycling value can not be stated in percentage, since it has not been possible to establish the total generation of biowaste in the countries. As such, although Figure 10 maintains the red-green colour scheme, values are in kilograms rather than the percentages. The figures show huge variation between the countries in the recycled amounts of biodegradable waste from a few kilo per capita to almost 240 kilo. 16
Figure 10. Recycling of biodegradable municipal waste in kilo per capita in 2006 Source:ETC/SCP As for total recycling of municipal waste, the EU Member Countries in the Northern part of Europe, Benelux and Western part of Central Europe have high or very high levels of recycling of biodegradable waste. Eastern European Countries and the southern countries have a low or the lowest level. Figure 11. Recycling rate of construction and demolition waste Source: ETC/SCP, 2009 The recycling rate of construction and demolition waste could be identified for 18 countries. The recycling rate varies significantly among the countries as shown in figure 11. In general, the rate is quite reasonable (>50%) for most countries. It has only been possible to get more detailed information on the composition of the recycled construction and demolition waste from 11 countries. Concrete, bricks, tiles and asphalt are the most commonly recycled construction and demolition waste fractions, but almost all countries with a very high recycling level also recycle a significant quantity of 17
soil. Soil is excluded in the new recycling target for construction and demolition waste; 70% by 2020. cf. figure 12. Figure 12. Recycling composition of construction and demolition waste indicated in tonnes per capita Ton per capita 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 Austria Czech Denmark Estonia France Germany Hungary Ireland Netherlands Norway Poland Other mineral and C&D waste Dredging soil, soil and track ballast Wood, glass, metals, plastics, gypsum Asphalt Concrete, bricks and tiles Source: ETC/SCP, 2009. The light blue colour for France ( Other mineral and C&D Waste ) indicates total recycling of all other C&D waste types except recycling of wood, glass, metals, plastics and gypsum. 3.3. Common characteristics of the countries recycling level It is not reasonable to add the individual recycling levels of each waste streams to one value for each country. The main reason for this is that not all countries have provided recycling figures for all waste streams. Further, there are some overlaps in the recycled waste included in the packaging waste, the biodegradable municipal waste and total municipal waste. However, in order to get some overall impression of the aggregated recycling level in each of countries, the different recycling percentages for certain waste streams in each country are added. The result of this shown in figure 13, which combines the figures for municipal waste, packaging waste, ELV, WEEE and construction and demolition waste. In order to achieve the best possible comparative illustration, the bottom of the figure includes waste streams for which all countries have recycling figures; municipal waste and packaging waste. Then ELV is added, where only two countries are missing. At the top of the figure is shown WEEE and construction and demolition waste. The included countries can be divided into three groups: Group I. Eight countries more or less have quite high recycling rates on municipal waste, packaging waste, ELV and WEEE, whereas the eight countries have larger variations on recycling level of construction and demolition waste. All eight countries are belonging the old EU Member States and of the European Economic Area. They are situated in Northern part of Europe, Benelux and Western part of Central Europe (Austria, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and Denmark), Group II. Nine countries which have medium recycling levels on municipal waste, packaging waste and ELV, and for some countries also on WEEE and construction demolition waste. Two of these countries belong to the new EU Member States and seven to old EU Member States. The countries are situated in the outer ring of Europe (Italy, Slovenia, Finland, Ireland, United Kingdom, Spain, Estonia, France and the Czech Republic), 18
Group III. Eleven countries have lower or quite low recycling levels of municipal waste and packaging waste. However, seven of the countries have very high rates of ELV and three of them also have high WEEE recycling rates. Apart from Lithuania these countries have quite low or very low collection amounts of WEEE, The countries are belonging both to the new EU Member States and to old Southern European EU Member States (Portugal, Greece, Latvia, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Malta, Slovakia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria). They are situated at the outer ring of Europe. 3.4. Conclusion on the recycling patterns in Europe The above figures of recycling in different waste streams indicate that: Some countries have very high or high recycling levels on all waste streams. The countries with a very high or high recycling rates on many waste types are situated in Northern Countries, Benelux and the Western Part of Central Europe Some countries have low or quite low recycling rates on municipal waste and packaging waste, but quite high or very high recycling rates on ELV and WEEE. These countries are belonging to the new EU Member States In other words no single country or group of countries has uniformly the highest recycling rates, All or most countries have high or very high recycling rates on ELV and WEEE, which are both regulated by EU Directives with high recycling targets. These waste streams included a high portion of metal in the waste. However, some of the countries with high recycling percentage of WEEE have only collected a limited amount of WEEE, The recycling rate of construction and demolition waste differs very much between the countries, and the countries with the highest recycling rates have included recycling of soil in the calculation, The European countries can be divided into three categories regarding recycling levels: I: Countries with high or very high recycling rates on municipal waste, packaging waste, ELV and WEEE but larger variations on recycling level of construction and demolition waste. II: Countries with medium recycling levels on municipal waste, packaging waste and for ELV and for some countries also for WEEE and construction demolition waste. III: Countries with lower or quite low recycling levels of municipal waste and packaging waste. Most of these have very high levels of ELV and some also have high recycling levels on WEEE but a low amount of collection of WEEE. 19
Figure 13. Cumulated recycling rates for packaging waste, municipal, waste, WEEE, ELV and construction and demolition waste. Sum of recycling percentages % of recycling of the waste types 300 200 100 0 III II I BG RO LT SK MT PL HU CY LV GR PT CZ FR EE ES UK IE FI SI IT DK LU NO SE NL BE DE AT 2007 Recycled MSW 2007 Recycled packaging 2007 Reused and recycled ELV 2006 Reused and recycled WEEE Recycled C&D 20
References Eurostat, 2009: Eurostat waste statistic database, http://nui.epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=env_wastrt&lang=en Eurostat, 2009a: Packaging waste data reporting http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/waste/data/wastestreams/packaging_w aste Eurostat, 2009b: End-of-life Vehicles data reporting http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/waste/data/wastestreams/elvs Eurostat, 2009c: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/waste/data/wastestreams/weee ETC/SCP, 2009: EU as a recycling society, 2009. ETC/SCP working paper 2/2009 http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/publications/wp2009_2 JRC-IPTS, 2009, Study on the selection of waste streams for End of Waste assessment, Annex I in Final Report 2009. http://www.prognos.com/fileadmin/pdf/publikationsdatenbank/selectionofwastestreamsfo reow-finalreport13_02_2009.pdf 21
Annex I In 2008 the ETC/SCP undertook in co-operation with the EEA a project identifying recycling levels for different municipal waste streams in the EU as well as different streams coming from the construction and demolition sector. Member States do not have an obligation to report detailed data on the recycling levels of the different waste types belonging to municipal waste and construction and demolition waste. The project was reported in 2009, cf, the reference list. ETC/SCP, 2009. The data were found in national reports and statistics published by the Member States. The continuation of the project EU as a Recycling Society has allowed us to achieve an overview on the following waste streams in the EU-27 and Norway: Batteries, Construction & Demolition Waste, End-of Life Vehicles, Municipal Waste, Packaging Waste and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). In September 2009 the Topic Centre uploaded this overview of national data as support material to help EEA member countries with their contribution to the forthcoming EEA report: State of the Environment Report 2010 (SOER). You can find the country data at the SOER section of the EIONET website: http://soer2010.ew.eea.europa.eu/part-c/part-cguidance/statistics_for_member_states_for_soer_part_c_waste.xls Use your password to enter to EIONET and go to Part C, Guidance, Country level statistics. The uploaded country data are also enclosed in this report as an annex (PDF-file). Please be aware of that the figures for total recycling of municipal waste in the annex are from 2006 and for some countries the figures are not always comparable to the Eurostat figures for total recycling of municipal waste. This is especially the case for Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Romania and Spain. 22