Observed total and municipal residual waste, together with total municipal waste generation under projection of increase of 3.7 % until 2030, and equivalent residual waste generated if the 2030 recycling target is reached

The chart puts together the trends (2004-2020) and projections (2020-2030) in both total and residual municipal waste for EU-27, for the case in which the 60 % recycling rate target of 2030 would be met. A comparison with the residual target allows for some insight on the distance of the projections to the actual target.

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Methodology

The chart assumes the projection in which the total municipal waste generation increases 3.7 % by 2030 (when comparing with 2018). The chart tries to visualize the amounts of residual waste in the case of the 60 % recycling rate being met by 2030. Hence, the projected residual waste from 2020 to 2030 is calculated as an interpolation of the actually observed value in 2020, and the projection of residual waste in 2030 (which pertains to 38 % of the total projected municipal waste --> 100 % total - 60 % targeted recycling rate - 2 % other). Note that the 2 % other corresponds to an approximation of the municipal waste that is considered to go under "other treatment" in Eurostat, since this value has averaged 2 % over the past ten years.

Units

Million tonnes

Additional information

There is no downloadable dataset for the "Scoping study to assess the feasibility of further EU measures on waste prevention: final report" (European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment, Karigl, B., Neubauer, C., Kral, U., et al., Scoping study to assess the feasibility of further EU measures on waste prevention : final report, 2022, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2779/21588). The European Commission report contains two different projections until 2035, and the current figure is based on the same annual increase for the upper-bound projection until 2030 as in the Commission report.

Observed total and municipal residual waste, together with total municipal waste generation under projection of increase of 3.7 % until 2030, and equivalent residual waste generated if the 2030 recycling target is reached

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References and footnotes