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Municipal waste

Municipal waste Catalonia. 2022
Value (tonnes) Variation (%) Generation coefficient (kg/inhab/day)
Total generation of municipal waste 3,980,626 -1.2 1.39
Separately collected waste 1,882,085 0.2 0.66
Organic fraction 446,453 1.4 0.16
Glass and paper 593,924 -1.4 0.21
Other waste separately collected 841,709 0.8 0.29
Mixed municipal waste (Residual fraction) 2,098,541 -2.4 0.73
Landfill (1) 969,812 -10.9 0.34
Incineration (1) 627,065 -2.3 0.22
Recovery of mechanical and biological treatment materials (2) 134,743 -14.3 0.05
Source: Agència de Residus de Catalunya.
El total de la Recollida no selectiva de residus (Fracció resta) inclou les pèrdues de degradació que no es comptabilitzen.
(1) Destí final de la fracció resta a dipòsit controlat o incineració. A partir del 2012 inclou residus enviats directament a dipòsit més sortides de tractament mecànic i biològic.
(2) Materials valoritzables obtinguts en el tractament de la fracció resta a tractament mecànic i biològic.
Municipal waste Spain. 2022
Value (tonnes) Variation (%) Generation coefficient (kg/inhab/day)
Total generation of municipal waste .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Separately collected waste .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Glass and paper .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Other waste separately collected .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Mixed municipal waste (Residual fraction) .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Landfill (1) .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Incineration (1) .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Recovery of mechanical and biological treatment materials (2) .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Composting of mechanical and biological treatment materials .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Source: Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. Annual report on waste generation and management.
(1) Destí final de la fracció resta a dipòsit controlat o incineració. A partir del 2012 inclou residus enviats directament a dipòsit més sortides de tractament mecànic i biològic.
(2) Materials valoritzables obtinguts en el tractament de la fracció resta a tractament mecànic i biològic.
(..) Confidential data, low reliability or not available.

Last update: October 23, 2023.

RESMC

These statistics have a specific section with all the information available: Statistics on Municipal Waste (RESMC).

Methodological note

Waste is considered to be any substance whose holder disposes of or has the intention or obligation to dispose of. Municipal waste is the rubbish generated by households, shops, offices and services, waste not considered to be hazardous; its nature or composition allows it to assimilated into the waste produced in various places or activities (street cleaning, parks and green spaces, deceased pets and rubble from minor construction works).

The waste generation coefficient refers to the daily kilograms of waste generated per inhabitant. For its calculation, the estimated population as of July 1 has been used.

Selective collection consists of separating materials (called fractions) in order to obtain resources and other materials or to be able to treat them to obtain new raw materials and thus convert them into material and/or energy resources.

In order to obtain good-quality materials and/or resources, it is very important that this separation be done correctly, as the presence of improper waste (waste that does not correspond to the fraction in question) hinders the process.

Waste that has not been selectively collected may be treated prior to disposal or before going to its final destination. This involves subjecting it to mechanical and biological treatment (TMB) which degrades the organic content and reduces the amount of waste for final treatment (controlled landfill or incineration/energy recovery).

Primary treatment is considered to be the first treatment that waste receives after collection, which is TMB in the case of non-separately collected waste (residual fraction or mixed waste). If the residual fraction is not subjected to pre-treatment, it goes directly to controlled landfill or is sent for incineration/energy recovery. In this case, the primary treatment coincides with the final treatment.

The final destination includes data on waste sent directly to controlled landfill and incineration/energy recovery as the primary destination and the output waste from pre-treatment (waste obtained after passing through the TMB plant).

In the data for Spain provided by the Spanish Ministry, the composting item and the corresponding data refer to both separately collected organic waste and TMB treatment of the residual fraction. It is not currently comparable with the data for Catalonia.

Until 2011 the mixed waste collection data considered the non-selective collection of waste by primary destination. Since 2012 they have referred to the non-selective collection of waste by final destination.

For the years 2000-2003, the data on mixed waste collection for Spain include information on uncontrolled landfill.