COM(2022)0719
EUR-Lex

The Commission presented a report on statistics compiled pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics and their quality.

The report concerns the quality of the data collection, which took place in 2018, on waste generated and treated in 2016. The data collection required by the Regulation consists of three parts: waste generation, waste treatment and waste treatment plants, the latter being disaggregated at NUTS II level.

The report concludes that significant progress has been made in the development of waste statistics since the last report in 2016. Overall, most countries have provided data of adequate quality.

Completeness

The completeness of the data provided by countries has steadily improved: the number of missing values and the number of countries reporting missing values have significantly decreased for waste generation data collections between the reference years 2010 and 2016.

The total number of missing values decreased from 1668 for reference year 2010 to 97 for reference year 2016. Most of the missing values concerned household waste.

The trend is the same for waste treatment data. There were no missing values for waste treatment in 2016, which is an improvement compared to the 263 missing values for reference year 2010.

Comparability and accuracy of data

The cross-country comparability of waste statistics has reached a relatively high level for most waste categories and sectors and considerable progress is being made to ensure full data coverage.

Compared to the 2014 reference year, improvements in coverage could be observed in eight countries for the 2016 reference year. Two important findings from the validation of the 2016 statistics are as follows:

- some countries are not yet able to report on the treatment category ‘backfilling’ or use the backfilling category to report landfilling. This problem was detected during validation. The Commission (Eurostat) asked the concerned countries to improve this situation in order to report fully correct data sets;

- mineral waste is of relatively limited relevance, but accounts for a large share of total waste. For this reason, the Commission (Eurostat) developed an additional indicator ‘Waste excluding major mineral waste’.

The report also notes that there are several differences between statistics on waste treatment and statistics on waste generation. The amount of waste generated differs from the amount of waste treated in the EU by about 200 million tonnes since 2008. This corresponds to about 10% of all waste generated. The trend has been stable since 2008.

These differences do not result from the fact that the statistics for the two categories are of different quality. Rather, it reflects differences in the purpose and concepts used for the two categories. However, depending on the waste class, the difference is expected to be within certain limits. If these limits are exceeded, the respective Member State is asked for explanations.

Indicator development

Data produced are used to calculate indicators. To monitor the progress in Europe’s transition towards a circular economy, Eurostat provides easy access to the relevant data for policy makers and the public in the form of 10 indicators. The indicators waste generation, food waste, recycling rate, specific waste streams and contribution of recycled materials to raw materials demand are produced with data collected under the Regulation, or are retrieved directly from these data.

Outlook

The legislation on waste revised under the circular economy package contains more precise rules on the measurement of waste-treatment operations and more precise definitions. This will also improve the comparability of waste statistics across countries. The Commission continues to work with Member States through other measures, for example through seminars and exchanges of best practices. A statistical investigation of major mineral waste would require additional efforts.

After the 2016 data collection, data on waste generation and treatment are now available for 7 reference years, i.e. for the period from 2004 to 2016. With the lengthening of the time series, the data are becoming increasingly useful, for example for developing indicators or as input for climate-related analyses.

COM(2020)0054
EUR-Lex

COM(2016)0701

The Commission presented the fourth report on statistics compiled pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics and their quality. The first report was published in 2008 , the second in 2011 and the third in 2014 .

Significant progress has been made in compiling waste statistics since reporting started in 2006.

Completeness : the completeness of data delivery by Member States has steadily improved . According to the report, the number of missing values and the number of countries reporting missing values fell considerably between the reference years 2010 and 2012 for the waste generation data set.

In 2010, 8 countries reported missing values but this dropped to 3 in the reference year 2012. The total number of missing values fell from 4.1% in the reference year 2010 to 1.5% in 2012 . The tendency is the same for the waste treatment data, though less pronounced.

Data coverage and comparability : the report noted that waste statistics have reached a fairly high degree of comparability across countries for most waste categories and sectors and considerable progress is being made towards achieving full data coverage.

Four areas show the biggest differences in data coverage :

the different coverage of extractive wastes (waste from mining and quarrying activities) has a very high impact. The biggest differences across countries are due to the coverage of overburden, i.e. natural materials that are removed from mining sites to get access to the ore without being processed, and with regard to extractive wastes that are managed at the mine site; the distinction between waste and by-products has a significant impact on the waste amounts in the economic activities: (i) agriculture, forestry and fishing; (ii) manufacturing. This is especially the case for the waste categories wood waste, animal and vegetal waste, and slags from metal production; the variance of waste generation in the construction sector indicates differences in data coverage; some countries are not yet able to report on the treatment category 'backfilling' .

Differences between waste generation and waste treatment : the report noted the difference between the amount generated and treated in the EU in 2012 is around 200 million tonnes . This equals approximately 8 % of all generated waste.

This difference has been stable over the last two reporting periods . It was higher in 2006 and 2008, at 400 million tonnes. The pattern stays the same: more wastes are generated than treated. In 2012 the difference was highest for sludges and liquid wastes from waste treatment (approximately 70 %) and lowest (nearly 0 %) for soils.

Achievements and outlooks : the report noted that overall the data are of adequate quality for most countries . The number of countries is growing that have implemented or plan to implement electronic reporting systems , i.e. systems which automatically forward data required under waste legislation from waste treatment facilities to the statistical authorities.

However, to help achieve the EU’s environment, industrial and raw materials policy objectives, further improvement is needed according to the Commission.

The Commission is continuing to work with the Member States on these improvements, for example through seminars and exchanges of best practice .

With the data delivery for 2012, data on waste generation and treatment are now available for 5 reference years, i.e. for the period from 2004 to 2012. With the longer time series , the data is becoming increasingly useful, for example for developing indicators or as input for climate-related analyses.

At the same time, methodological improvements in individual countries may still have a significant impact on the time series, at national level and at the level of the EU-28 aggregate. Developments over time should thus still be interpreted with caution and after careful analysis of the underlying data.

COM(2016)0701
EUR-Lex

The Commission presented its third report on statistics compiled pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics and their quality.

The first report was published in 2008 and the second in 2011 .

This report considers the results of the latest data delivery in June 2012 for reference year 2010 and covers 27 EU Member States. It also describes the implementation of the revised annexes to the Waste Statistics Regulation, applicable for reference year 2010.

Since the first data delivery in 2006, Eurostat has set up an efficient two-step quality control system.

The first step is a quick evaluation of data and quality reports. It sends an evaluation report within two months of the reporting deadline. The second step is a more in-depth validation with no strict deadline. This analyses the data at a more detailed level (e.g. by economic sector and by waste category) and compares patterns and developments across countries. Potential questions are checked against the countries’ quality reports and the feedback to the quick evaluation. This may result in a second set of questions being sent to the countries concerned.

The report notes that significant progress has been achieved with regard to the compilation of waste statistics since reporting started in 2006:

the completeness of data delivery by Member States has steadily improved; waste statistics have reached a fairly high degree of comparability across countries for most waste categories and sectors and considerable progress is being made towards full data coverage; overall, the data are of appropriate quality for most countries. However, in order to help achieving EU environment, industrial and raw materials policy objectives, further improvement is needed; the harmonisation of data is furthered by a set of methodological guidance documents thatare available from the website of the Environmental Data Centre on Waste and by workshops addressing areas in which there are serious differences in data coverage (for example, workshops were held on mining waste in October 2011 and on construction and demolition waste in October 2012); errors and methodological deficits are identified by the quality control system.

As a new approach to improving data quality, Eurostat is setting up a programme that aims to support countries in which there are serious shortcomings by means of bilateral meetings to enable discussion of such issues, and options for improvement.

With the extension of the time series, the data is becoming increasingly useful , e.g. for building indicators and for use in the field of Environmental Accounts.

Also, the effect of new concepts introduced by the revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), i.e. end-of-waste criteria, on waste statistics will have to be monitored.

The report highlights that:

indicators on ‘ generation of waste excluding major mineral wastes’ (tsdpc210) and on ‘ generation of hazardous waste , by economic activity’ (tsdpc250) are established and are both part of the set of Sustainable Development Indicators; a new indicator on ‘ landfilling of waste excluding major mineral wastes’ has been developed and the plan is to include it in the set of Resource Efficiency Indicators; the development of indicators on other treatment categories, including recycling, is ongoing.

EUR-Lex
COM(2014)0079

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics, the Commission presents its report on the implementation of the Regulation. It is required to do so every three years and the first report was published in 2008. This report summarises progress made since the first data delivery in 2006. It covers the 27 EU Member States and considers the results of the latest data delivery in June 2010. It also describes the transition from NACE Rev. 1.1 to NACE Rev. 2, and outlines the changes and expected improvements that will result from the revision of the Waste Statistics Regulation.

The report states that significant progress has been achieved with regard to the compilation of waste statistics since the first reporting in 2006. The punctuality and completeness of data delivery by Member States as well as the timeliness of data publication have steadily improved. Waste statistics have reached a fairly high degree of comparability across countries and considerable progress is being made towards full data coverage. Overall, the data are of appropriate quality for most countries. The harmonisation of data is furthered by a set of methodological guidance documents that are available from the website of the Environmental Data Centre on Waste. Errors and methodological deficits are identified by the quality control system.

With the data delivery for 2008, data on waste generation and treatment are now available for the period from 2004 to 2008. With the extension of the time series the data become increasingly useful, e.g. for building indicators and for use in the field of Environmental Accounts.

At the same time, it has to be mentioned that methodological changes in individual countries may still have a significant impact on the time series, at national level but also at the level of the EU-27 aggregate. Developments over time should thus still be interpreted with caution and after careful analysis of the underlying data. Also, the effect of new concepts introduced by the revised Waste Framework Directive, i.e. end-of-waste criteria, on waste statistics has to be observed.

Indicators on hazardous waste generation and on the generation of non-mineral waste have been developed and are being integrated into the set of Sustainable Development Indicators and the indicators for monitoring the Europe 2020 strategy. The development of an indicator for recycling is, however, still ongoing.

A considerable improvement with regard to the usability and interpretability of waste statistics is expected from the revision of the Regulation that will apply as of reference year 2010. The aims of the revision were to: (i) increase the usability of waste statistics; (ii) simplify the provisions of the Regulation; (iii) align the Regulation with other reporting obligations on waste.

The most important change is the harmonisation of the breakdown by waste categories in section 2 of Annexes I and II to the Regulation . The different breakdowns hampered data validation as well as the interpretation and communication of results. In future, waste generation and waste treatment will be reported according to the same 51 waste categories. Although this will lead to a nominal increase of the data to be reported the new provision is not expected to lead to an extra burden.

In addition, some waste categories have been reorganised or newly introduced in order to increase the usability of data, e.g. for the monitoring of waste policies. This includes: (i) separate waste categories for mineral waste from construction and demolition, for soils and for dredging spoil; (ii) separate waste categories for liquid and mineral wastes from waste treatment (secondary wastes); (iii) reorganisation of the categories animal and vegetal waste and metal wastes; (iv) aggregation of different chemical wastes in one category. Furthermore, the waste treatment categories were reorganised in order to bring the Regulation into line with the definitions and requirements of the revised Waste Framework Directive, and to integrate data on the number and capacity of landfills that are so far collected under Directive 1999/31/EC on landfills.

COM(2011)0131
EUR-Lex

Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics (Waste Statistics Regulation) establishes a framework for the production of Community statistics on the generation, recovery and disposal of waste. The Regulation was formulated after giving careful consideration to the complexities and difficulties of producing waste statistics. It was agreed that a number of pilot studies would be needed to clarify a number of fundamental issues concerning new areas of waste statistics. These areas are statistics on waste generated in ‘Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fisheries’ (Article 4(3)), and statistics on the ‘Import and export of waste’ (Article 5(1)) for which no data are collected under the Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 (Waste Shipment Regulation).

The Waste Statistics Regulation stipulates that the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the progress of the pilot studies. The Commission notes that the progress report from 2005 contained only preliminary results and announced another call for proposals as well as a final report with recommendations for further implementing measures based on the results of these studies.

Statistics on the import and export of waste : the results of the pilot studies on statistics on the import and export of waste confirmed the need for these statistics for the purposes of monitoring Community waste policy, in particular, compliance with the principles of maximisation of recovery and safe disposal. A large majority of countries considered foreign trade statistics to be the most suitable data source for producing statistics on the export and import of waste. The general advantage of using available statistics based on common parameters and a harmonised nomenclature used by all Member States is compromised, however, by the fact that different thresholds, expressed in monetary value, are applied by Member States to reduce the administrative burden on businesses. This means that data are not fully comparable and may lead to the amounts of waste traded being underestimated. Foreign trade statistics cannot be used without further adaptation of the statistical nomenclature and final verification of the data by the Member States. The current provisions of the Waste Statistics Regulation do not describe the requirements for statistics on the import and export of waste in sufficient detail. The Commission will therefore propose specifications for these statistics by way of a formal proposal to amend Annex I of the above Regulation. This will:

provide a breakdown of statistics on the import and export of waste into intra- and extra-EU, and into imports and exports. A breakdown into economic activities will not be required; the breakdown by waste categories will contain sufficient information. These provisions will result in four additional columns to the table on waste generation in Annex I to the Waste Statistics Regulation; simplify and harmonise the use of foreign trade statistics, for the purposes of which the Commission will provide Member States with an extraction of the relevant data from the foreign trade statistics database COMEXT; require Member States to confirm or to revise the data. Member States may also compile statistics on the import and export of waste by other means, in accordance with Article 3(1) of the Waste Statistics Regulation.

Statistics on waste generation by NACE sectors A and B: given the many common difficulties in providing reliable data for the agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing industries, the pilot studies have provided a very useful yardstick for exploring the situation and the possibilities regarding the production of high quality waste statistics. Of particular importance were the clarification of the scope for waste statistics and the exchange of experiences gained through these studies on developing methods to include small enterprises in the statistics and to produce the waste factors for certain waste streams.

The pilot studies on waste arising from the economic sectors of agriculture, hunting, forestry (NACE A) and fishing (NACE B) recommended no additional implementing measures. The current Community statistical legislation on waste statistics is sufficiently detailed to cover waste generated within the economic activities of NACE A and B.

COM(2008)0501
EUR-Lex

This report is submitted pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics, which requires the Commission to submit a report on the statistics compiled pursuant to this Regulation and in particular on their quality and the burden on businesses. The report summarises the first results, provides an overview of data quality and includes recommendations for possible amendments to the Regulation. It covers the 25 EU Member States that were legally obliged to submit data in 2006.

It stresses the positive impact of the obligation to document methodologies and to assess data quality in the quality reports. Problems and deficiencies are more visible and show where improvement is needed. In addition, the Regulation gives a boost to coherence between waste statistics and other statistical domains by requiring strict adherence to the NACE classification of economic activities and the use of statistical units as applied in business statistics. It thus enhances the possibility of integrating waste statistics into Environmental-Economic Accounting.

Burden on businesses : Most Member States, however, do not measure the burden in physical terms and are therefore unable to report on this. Five Member States report a burden of between 30 minutes and five hours per respondent. Nevertheless, most Member States are aware of the workload for companies and follow different approaches with a view to reducing the burden and collecting data in an efficient way.

Development in Member States : on the national level, the binding character of the Regulation has clearly strengthened the status of waste statistics within statistical systems. The obligations imposed by the Regulation have led to methodological developments and to changes in national data collection systems. Several countries announced their intention of improving data quality and compliance with the Regulation’s requirements. It would seem that the Regulation has advanced the general trend in Member States of avoiding redundant reporting through co-operation between the data collecting institutions and streamlining of reporting obligations. The dual use of data for administrative and for statistical purposes is becoming more commonplace, the bottom line being more consistency between data and a reduced burden on respondents.

Need for revision : although the outcome of the first reporting round confirmed the general approach, some conceptual shortcomings clearly need to be reviewed.

With regard to breakdown by waste types , in Annex I and Annex II (Section 2) the Regulation requires generated and treated waste amounts to be broken down by waste categories in a different way for each data set. This was to minimise the required level of detail and hence minimise the burden for Member States.

The experience of the first reporting round clearly shows that the drawbacks of this concept are numerous whereas any advantages are insignificant, with no observable relief for the Member States. Most Member States collect the information at a much more detailed level and reduce the breakdowns when preparing the data for transmission to Eurostat.

The main negative aspects are the following:

- it is not possible to draw up balances for individual waste categories. This greatly hampers data validation and interpretation;

- the level of detail for waste treatment data is too low. Important waste streams are subsumed in non-specific waste categories (‘other wastes’);

- the presentation and communication of results is very complicated;

- the different formats make it difficult to handle and process the data.

The current approach should be abandoned in favour of a common breakdown for both waste generation and waste treatment. The more detailed breakdown of waste categories in Section 2 of Annex I should be used as basis for discussion.

With regard to regional breakdown of data on waste treatment infrastructure , the Regulation requires the Member States to provide data on the number and capacity of recovery and disposal facilities at NUTS 2 level. This detailed regional breakdown causes a significant workload for Eurostat and for Member States alike. The proportion of confidential data rises considerably with the regional level of detail, thus limiting the usefulness. The relevance of this detailed information has to be reviewed.

With regard to breakdown by waste treatment types , the paper notes that reporting on the treatment of waste aggregates all (10) recovery operations, except energy recovery, into a single reporting category. Furthermore, the required data on waste recovery capacity embraces such treatment operations as composting, recycling of metals and oil refining. In these cases the level of detail seems to be insufficient: information on certain recycling operations would be desirable for the purposes of monitoring waste policy. In particular, there is a growing need to provide data suitable for use as benchmarking against set targets. This highlights the need for consistent data across Member States, for which further refinement of definitions and classifications would probably be required.

Lastly, disposal operations (8 treatment types) are broken down into two reporting categories, one of which is virtually unused in Member States.

The Commission will propose amending the Regulation in due time for data collection for the reference year 2008:

- to have the same breakdown of waste categories for waste generation and waste treatment by aligning Sections 2 of Annex I and Annex II,

- to review the regional breakdowns in Annex II,

- to review the breakdown of waste treatment categories in Annex II, in particular waste recovery and waste disposal.

COM(2008)0355
EUR-Lex

The Waste Statistics Regulation stipulates in Article 8(3) that the Commission shall, within two years after the entry into force of this Regulation, submit to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the progress of the pilot studies referred to in Article 4(3) and Article 5(1). This report meets this requirement.

In addition to the mandatory pilot studies, Member States are invited to carry out pilot studies on ‘Packaging waste’ and on ‘Preparatory operations’. The Commission will, if required, use the results and conclusions from these ‘voluntary’ pilot studies to adopt further necessary implementation measures.

On the basis of the conclusions of the pilot studies, the Commission must inform the European Parliament and the Council of the possibilities of compiling statistics for the activities and characteristics covered by the pilot studies for import and export of waste.

One of the main questions for the pilot studies on import and export of waste is the level of detail to appear in the statistics. This is related to a second question on how the reporting obligation of the Waste Shipment Regulation should be incorporated into the Waste Statistics Regulation. In other words, could the data on the import and export of (hazardous) waste reported under the Waste Shipment Regulation be used as an input for statistics? A third question raised was how to collect data on the import and export of non-hazardous waste. Although this so-called “green” list waste is incorporated in the Waste Shipment Regulation, it does not fall under the reporting obligation.

The report discusses the methodology used by the Commission, and the terms of reference.

As statistics on waste from agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishery are not compiled on a regular basis in most Member States, special emphasis has been directed towards pilot studies on this subject.

The report provides an overview of the pilot studies.

The first results from the pilot studies on statistics on import and export of waste demonstrate that although foreign trade statistics have been identified as the best source they do not provide a full set of data that can be used to complement the data covered by the Waste Shipment Regulation. For a number of waste categories for which statistics are to be compiled a concrete solution has not been identified yet and therefore further studies would be necessary.

With regard to statistics on waste from agriculture, hunting, forestry and fisheries a large variety of waste streams have to be considered and the most crucial issue is to what extent bio-organic waste will be covered by waste statistics. Another essential aspect is the treatment of waste within the agricultural sector and the extent to which this is included in the waste statistics.

For both fields of pilot studies another call for proposals will be launched in 2005. The terms of reference will be adapted taking into account the experience acquired so far.

COM(2005)0240
EUR-Lex

The Commission has presented a report concerning the progress of the pilot studies referred to in Article 4, paragraph 3, and Article 5, paragraph1 of Regulation 2150/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste statistics.

The first results from the pilot studies on statistics on import and export of waste demonstrate that although foreign trade statistics have been identified as the best source they do not provide a full set of data that can be used to complement the data covered by the Waste Shipment Regulation. For a number of waste categories for which statistics are to be compiled a concrete solution has not been identified yet and therefore further studies would be necessary.

With regard to statistics on waste from agriculture, hunting, forestry and fisheries a large variety of waste streams have to be considered and the most crucial issue is to what extent bio-organic waste will be covered by waste statistics. Another essential aspect is the treatment of waste within the agricultural sector and the extent to which this is included in the waste statistics.

For both fields of pilot studies another call for proposals will be launched in 2005. The terms of reference will be adapted taking into account the experience acquired so far.

By the end of 2005, the Commission will inform the European Parliament and the Council about the possibilities of compiling statistics for the activities and characteristics covered by the pilot studies for import and export of waste as required by Article 5(4) of the Waste Statistics Regulation. At the same time, an update on activities and results related to waste from agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishery, on packaging waste and on preparatory treatment operations will be given.

COM(2005)0223
EUR-Lex

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Commission Regulation 782/2005/EC setting out the format for the transmission of results on waste statistics.

CONTENT: By virtue of Article 6 of Regulation 2150/2002/EC on waste statistics, the Commission is required to adopt the measures necessary for implementing that Regulation.

In accordance with Article 6(e) of the Regulation, the Commission should set out the appropriate format for the transmission of results by Member States.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom. The appropriate format for the transmission of results on waste statistics to the Commission (Eurostat) shall be as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Member States shall use this format for the data on the 2004 reference year and subsequent years.

Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) the data and metadata required by Regulation 2150/2002/EC in electronic form, in accordance with an interchange standard proposed by the Commission (Eurostat).

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 14/06/2005.

32005R0782
OJ L 131 25.05.2005, p. 0026-0037

PURPOSE: to establish a framework for the production of Community statistics on the generation, recovery and disposal of waste. COMMUNITY MEASURE: Regulation 2150/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste statistics. CONTENT: Member States and the Commission must, within their respective fields of competence, produce Community statistics on the generation, recovery and disposal of waste, excluding radioactive waste which is already covered by other legislation. Statistics for the import and export of waste will be collected after certain pilot studies. In compiling the statistics, Member States and the Commission will observe the mainly substance-oriented nomenclature as set out in Annex III. In order to reduce the administrative burden on small enterprises, enterprises of less than 10 employees will be excluded from surveys, unless they contribute significantly to the generation of waste. There are provisions for transitional periods and implementation measures. ENTRY INTO FORCE : 29/12/2002.

Regulation 2002/2150
OJ L 332 09.12.2002, p. 0001-0036

COM(2002)0589
EUR-Lex

T5-0360/2002
OJ C 271 12.11.2003, p. 0378-0442 E

T5-0360/2002

A5-0231/2002

A5-0231/2002

SEC(2002)0419
EUR-Lex

05762/1/2002
OJ C 145 18.06.2002, p. 0085 E

05762/1/2002

EUR-Lex
COM(2001)0737

EUR-Lex
COM(2001)0737

T5-0414/2001
OJ C 072 21.03.2002, p. 0032-0050 E

T5-0414/2001

A5-0267/2001

A5-0267/2001

EUR-Lex
OJ C 180 26.06.2001, p. 0202 E
COM(2001)0137

EUR-Lex
COM(2001)0137

CES0848/1999
OJ C 329 17.11.1999, p. 0017

EUR-Lex
OJ C 087 29.03.1999, p. 0022
COM(1999)0031

EUR-Lex
COM(1999)0031