Vital Waste Graphics

MUNICIPAL WASTE

Municipal waste is everything collected and treated by municipalities. Only part of it is comes from households, the rest is generated by small businesses, commercial and other municipal activities. So it is produced from both consumption and production processes. Like all waste, mu- nicipal waste is on the rise and it is growing faster than the population, a natural result of our increasing consumption rate and the shortening of product life-spans. According to various scenarios, it will most likely continue for the next decades – but at a slower pace for those countries that can afford advanced waste management strategies. As 1.3 billion Chinese thunder into the great pleasures of consumption, municipal waste is certainly a major environmental concern.

The richer we get, the more we discard

Changing percentages of selected municiple wastes selected OECD countries, 1980-2000

Index 100 in 1980

projection

240

OECD countries

Greece

Percentage of municipal waste

220

Netherlands

Spain

60

GDP

200

Organic

180

50

Hungary

Municipal Waste Generation

160

France

140

40

Japan

120

United States

Population

30

100

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

20

Source: OECD, 1999.

10

Projected trends in regional municipal waste generation

0

40

Million tonnes

Paper

450

1995 2010 2020

30

400

350

20

300

10

250

0

200

ESP GRC HUN NDL JPN FRA USA

150

Plastic

20

100

50

10

0

0

Australia and New Zealand*

Canada, United States and Mexico

Central and Eastern Europe

Japan and Korea

Western Europe

ESP GRC HUN NDL JPN FRA USA

1980

2000

Source: OECD, 2002.

Source: OECD.

* data for Australia is an expert estimate

A typical trend: as countries get richer, the organic share decreases whereas the paper and plastic ones increase.