Waste accounts, 2013

Waste amounts have been steadily increasing over the last few years, and this tendency continued for 2013. However, the increase from 2012 to 2013 is mainly a result of the availability of new waste data sources and the inclusion of data from more sectors than previously. Without these two factors, the increase from 2012 to 2013 would have been less than one per cent. At the same time, the value added measured by GDP (constant prices) has increased by less than one per cent from 2012 to 2013.

The fraction of waste that is recovered is stable

In 2013, the total recovery of non-hazardous waste undergoing known treatment was 81 per cent; the same as for 2012. This corresponds to 7.9 million tonnes. In 2013, 30 per cent of non-hazardous waste undergoing known treatment was energy recovered, while 36 per cent was subject to material recovery.

The amount of waste incinerated decreased somewhat from 2012 to 2013, but is still very high, with 4.0 million tonnes in 2013. It is still mixed waste and wood waste that constitute the largest fractions for incineration. Increased amounts of asphalt from construction compared to earlier years helped keep the recovery at the same level as in 2012.

The amount of waste going to landfill has also increased in 2013. In 2013, around 9 per cent of non-hazardous waste undergoing known treatment was deposited. The increase in deposited waste is partly due to increased amounts of secondary waste from waste incineration. However the largest fraction being deposited is hazardous waste.

Most mixed waste

The major waste material categories in 2013 were mixed waste, which had 22 per cent of the total, followed by wood waste with 12 per cent and hazardous waste with 11 per cent. These are the same three categories of waste that topped the list in 2012.

The manufacturing industry still contributes the largest amounts of waste

The manufacturing industry is still the source of the largest amount of waste, with 2.6 million tonnes or 23 per cent of the total in 2013, followed by households (22 per cent) and the construction and demolition industry (20 per cent). Both the waste amounts from the manufacturing industry and households are similar to the amounts in 2012. However the amounts of waste from building and construction have seen a sharp increase from 2012. This is apparently because a new source of data on asphalt from construction has been used to calculate the 2013 figures. Without this new data source the amounts of waste from this industry would also have been similar to 2012. We have not calculated the amounts of asphalt for previous years in connection with this article.

The industry with the largest decrease in waste amounts is mining and quarrying, with a drop of 19 per cent in 2013 compared with 2012. This decrease is mainly due to less hazardous waste.

Masses for landfilling and cover materials

While ordinary waste sent for landfill has increased in the last year, the amounts of slightly polluted soil that are deposited have decreased. In 2013, 1.3 million tonnes were sent to ordinary landfills and 60 000 tonnes were used as cover material. This is a decrease compared to 2012, where a total of 1.6 million tonnes was deposited or used as cover materials.