Waste Statistics 1998

1. Introduction

In 1993, the ISAG (Information System for Waste and Recycling) was used for the first time. The 1998 reports are the sixth consecutive reports.

Reports to the ISAG for 1998 cover 420 plants distributed on 313 enterprises. In 1997, reports covered 424 plants distributed on 307 enterprises.

The results of the 1998 reports are presented in this publication, which is laid out as in previous years.

Chapter 2 describes general developments in generation and treatment of waste. In Chapter 3, recycling of waste is presented. Chapter 4 deals with generation and treatment of hazardous waste, and in Chapter 5 developments in imports and exports are described, both for ordinary waste and for waste subject to mandatory notification. In Chapter 6, a detailed description of developments in waste amounts and treatment of waste from different sources is given. Furthermore, figures are compared to targets for treatment in year 2004 in the Danish Government’s Waste Management Plan 1998 - 2004, Waste 21. Finally, Chapter 7 gives an outline of Danish incineration plants and landfills.

The general picture for 1998 shows that:
Total waste generation in 1998 amounted to 12,233,000 tonnes, which is 624,000 tonnes or 5 per cent less than in 1997. This decrease is mainly due to relatively large decreases in waste amounts from the very sensitive building and construction sector and from coal-fired power plants.
If residues from coal-fired power plants are not included in statistics, waste generation decreased by 3 per cent.
If also construction and demolition waste is kept apart, there has been an increase in waste amounts of 2 per cent.
Recycling has been almost stable, accounting for 62 per cent in 1998 against 63 per cent in 1997. Landfilling is also relatively stable. A minor decrease of 1 percentage point to 15 per cent has taken place, whereas incineration increased by 2 percentage points to 22 per cent.
Generation of domestic waste in households increased by 5 per cent, whereas generation of bulky waste decreased by 3 per cent.
Garden waste amounts are almost similar to 1997.
Waste generation in manufacturing industries and institutions/trade and offices increased by 2 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
Landfilling of waste from industry is still too high.