Kosovo Agency of Statistics

Department of Agriculture and Environment Statistics

Environment Division

The main purpose of the waste data is to provide statistical data on waste generated by surveys  in Kosovo.

Municipal waste survey: covers only mixed municipal waste (LoW 20 03 01) as separate collection systems are not yet established in Kosovo. The amount reported includes no estimate for the population that is not covered by a waste collection system (79 of the population). The total amount of municipal waste generated is split between the sector households and the sector services (according to the overall split from the reporting on the origin of the waste in 2020 (household 83%, other sources 17%) on  the origin of the waste

The selection of reporting units for the industrial waste survey was prepared on the basis of the business statistical register: The survey covers all NACE Rev 2 sectors, with the exception of NACE A. The NACE sectors F and G-U were surveyed for the first time in the IW survey 2014. For the coverage with regard to company size please refer to Table 2.

The sampling frame according to business registry was 35, 342 (2018) companies in the examined sectors.

The IW survey 2018 covered 801 (2018) businesses and the total number of businesses that responded to the survey was 547.

The IW survey 2020 covered 845 company and total number of businesses that responded to the survey was 655

Waste sector.

Industrial waste: waste generated by the industry sector. Hazardous waste: a waste that brings harm and danger to society, which indicates a significant risk to human health or the environment when not managed adequately. Hazardous wastes are flammable, corrosive, reactive or toxic. Hazardous waste is waste that has at least one of the following characteristics: explosive, oxidizing, combustible, irritating, bad, toxic, carcinogenic, abrasive, infectious, teratogenic, mutagenic, emitting, toxic gases in contact with water, air or an acid, is likely to produce other dangerous and ecotoxic substances.

Municiapal Waste-- are waste from households, as well as waste from other activities whcih due to the composition and nature are similar to household

Industrial Waste statistics Companies with 10 or more employees

Municipal Waste statistics -Business

Companies by NACE Rev.2 in the following activity sectors: B- Mining and quarrying, C- Manufacturing, D- Electricity, gas, steam and air of air conditioning supply, E- Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities F- Construction, G-U- Service Sectors

Businesses and regional waste management companies.

Kosovo National Area

IWs Time series are available from the reference year 2010.

Time series are available from the reference year 2008.

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The Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) is a professional institution which deals with collection, processing and publication of official statistical data. The KAS has established regular surveys on the generation of municipal waste (MW survey) since reference year 2007, on the generation and treatment of industrial waste (IW survey) since reference year 2010 and on the treatment of waste (WT survey) since reference 2014.

KAS produces waste statistics based on the legal basis on Law on Official Statistics (Nr. 04/L-036), Programme of Official Statistics 2018-2022, Annual Plan of Official Statistics 2020 and the Law of Waste in Kosovo (No. 02/L-30).

The frquency of the data is that the surveys are anulally, so each year we collect the data and publish data on waste statistics.

The Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) is a professional institution which deals with collection, processing and publication of official statistical data. The KAS has established regular surveys on the generation of municipal waste (MW survey) since reference year 2007, on the generation and treatment of industrial waste (IW survey) since reference year 2010 and on the treatment of waste (WT survey) since reference 2014.

KAS produces waste statistics based on the legal basis on Law on Official Statistics (Nr. 04/L-036), Programme of Official Statistics 2018-2022, Annual Plan of Official Statistics 2020 and the Law of Waste in Kosovo (No. 02/L-30).

Survey on Municipal Waste (MW)

Data source for data on the generation of MW is the statistical survey on municipal waste which is carried out by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) annually.

Since reference year 2007, the KAS collects data on the quantity of municipal waste collected by means of a full survey of all MW collectors (ca. 40 public and private companies). The data are collected from each economic operator via direct interviews with representatives of the companies based on the survey questionnaire. The response rate of the survey is usually close to 100%.

As of reference year 2016 the interviews are carried out by regional statistical offices. Before 2016 the survey was done by interviewers of a contracted company. On the 2018 Municipal Waste were collected directly by regional offices. In 2019 we started to contact the companies directly, sending them questionnaires for filling in via e-mails, and we can say that this method has been successful given that in companies where we had obstacles, we went to physically contact the company. The analysis of the MWS is done by KAS. This method continued for 2020 also.

The KAS produces an annual publication on the results of the MW survey. The publication and the survey questionnaire are available in the three languages Albanian, English and Serbian on KAS website:

Industrial waste survey (IWS)

Data on industrial waste generation were collected for the first time in 2011 for the reference year 2010. Until reference year 2012, the data were collected on the basis of NACE Rev 1.1 and cover the sectors mining and quarrying (C), manufacturing industries (D) and electricity (E). Since 2013, we applied NACE Rev. 2. For reference year 2014 the survey has been extended to the NACE sectors F (construction) and G-U (service sectors). Hence, the 2014 data cover all economic sectors except NACE A (agriculture, forestry, etc.)

The data on industrial waste are collected from the economic operators by interviews carried out by a contracted company and based on survey questionnaires.

KAS collects the data on waste by the six-digit codes of the European List of Waste. In the survey, the classification is not done by the companies directly but the information from the companies on the waste type is translated into LoW-codes by the KAS experts.

The 2018 survey approach has been the same as the previous surveys the survey has been limited to companies with 10 employees and more

The KAS produces an annual publication on the results of the IW survey. The publication and the survey questionnaire are available on the KAS website:

KAS reports for 2018 data for landfilling of municipal waste based on the Municipal Waste Survey. The survey questionnaire asks the waste collectors to specify the landfill at which they dispose of the collected waste.

KAS collects further data on waste treatment in the frame of the industrial waste survey since reference year 2010 and in the frame of the survey on waste treatment from reference year 2014. However, the treatment data from these two surveys were not used for the reporting to Eurostat because of quality deficits. It is envisaged to improve the data quality so that more comprehensive data can be submitted in the reporting for reference year 2019.

Data on the number and the capacity of waste treatment facilities are not yet regularly collected in Kosovo. There operate 7 regional companies which cover the whole of Kosovo and which dump waste in Kosovo's regional landfills. The Kosovo have a seven regional landfill which are: DS-Pristina, ST-Ferizaj, DS-Gjilan, DS-Mitrovicë, DS-Pejë, DS-Prizren and   DS-Podujevë. This year we reported the treatment data.

Municipal waste survey

As of reference year 2017, KAS has changed the data collection approach for the MW survey and started to collect the data directly through its regional statistical offices instead of sending contracted interviewers to the collection companies. This approach is expected to increase the data return, to improve the communication with the companies and to facilitate the follow-up of questions arising during data validation. In 2019 we started to contact the companies directly, sending them questionnaires for filling in via e-mails, and we can say that this method has been successful given that in companies where we had obstacles, we went to physically contact the company, this method still continues.

Industrial waste survey

During the IW survey 2017, KAS put particular attention to improving the coverage of big industrial waste generators. For this purpose, KAS compiled a list of companies which were assumed to generate particularly high amounts of waste. If the companies on this list did not provide data to the contracted interviewers, they were directly contacted by KAS or the regional statistical offices. In this way, the data return could be significantly improved which resulted in a much higher amount of waste generated in Kosovo compared to previous years

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KAS is committed to quality assurance in the production of official statistics. Based on the "Law On Official Statistics, Law 04 / L-036", KAS uses statistical methods and processes in accordance with internationally accepted scientific principles and standards and conducts ongoing analyzes in order to improve the quality and delivery of updated statistics. In carrying out its duties, KAS follows the overall quality management principles, in line with the European Statistics Code of Practice. KAS has developed a Quality Statement which is available on the ASK website: http://ask.rks-gov.net/media/1890/statementof-quality.pdf. The document lists eleven principles, much in line with the CoP principles like professional independence and statistical confidentiality, on which the work of KAS is based.

During July 2017 in Kosovo Agency of Statistics was conducted the process of assessment of the Kosovo Statistical System through the “Peer Review” approach

Main users of waste data and waste statistics are:

• State administrative bodies, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, Kosovo, Agency of Environment Protection, all municipalities in Kosovo, researchers, students, private businesses.
• International institutions as Eurostat and EEA to which we send data on a voluntary basis 

One of the key elements to ensure the quality of statistical data is the measurement of the satisfaction of users. The survey aims to gather comprehensive information on the needs and requirements of users of official statistical data. Through this survey the users of statistical data have expressed their thoughts and opinions regarding statistical views, they have provided advice and suggestions regarding their needs for statistics and how to improve these statistical data in the future. This survey was conducted during the conference held with the users of statistical data, in which 11 users responded. The questionnaire contained eight questions and included various topics: the use of statistical data, assessment of KAS in general, the assessment of the KAS website, assessment of the quality of statistical data, etc. More detailed information on this survey: http://ask.rks-gov.net/media/1906/report-from-the-user-satisfaction-survey.pdf.

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• Municipal waste survey: covers only mixed municipal waste (LoW 20 03 01) as separate collection systems are not yet established in Kosovo. The amount reported includes no estimate for the population that is not covered by a waste collection system (79 of the population). The total amount of municipal waste generated is split between the sector households and the sector services (according to the overall split from the reporting on the origin of the waste in 2020 (household 83%, other sources 17%) on  the origin of the waste.

• The sampling frame according to business registry was 35, 342 (2018) companies in the examined sectors.

  The IW survey 2018 covered 801 (2018) businesses and the total number of businesses that responded to the survey was 547.

  The IW survey 2020 covered 845 company and total number of businesses that responded to the survey was 655

The Business Register comprised 36 129 companies in the examined sectors of which 845 were selected for the survey. Responses were received from 655 companies; this corresponds to a response rate of 72%.

2.2       Non-sampling errors

2.2.1    Coverage errors

Waste generation:

Small companies with less than 10 employees are not covered by the IW survey 2017. No estimates for these companies are included.

An undercoverage of the full survey on companies with 10 or more employee’s results from the fact that the data were not corrected for non-responding companies.

In the IW survey, there exist problems to properly distinguish between waste generated on the one hand and waste collected or waste traded on the other hand. This problem concerns mainly companies belonging to the waste management sector (E38, G46.77) and may lead to overestimations of waste generation in these sectors.

Estimation of pure household waste:

The determination of pure household waste is based on estimates of the waste collectors on the share of municipal waste that originates from households and from other sources.

Waste classification:

Industrial waste data are classified according to 6-digit LoW-codes. The waste generating companies are not yet familiar with the List of Waste. The allocation of industrial waste types to LoW-codes is therefore done by the experts of KAS based on the information collected by interviews from the reporting units. In particular, the identification and classification of hazardous waste proved to be difficult. As a result, the amount of hazardous waste is underestimated.

2.2.2    Measurement errors

For the collection of data on industrial waste generation the statistical unit ‘enterprise’ is applied.

Data on generation of waste are requested from responding units in tonnes. Errors may occur when responding units wrongly report data in other units, for example in kilograms.

The reported waste amounts are usually derived from volume-based estimates that are converted into tonnes by the responding companies or by the Statistical Office.

2.2.3    Processing errors 

Validations of errors which may occur in data collection in industrial waste survey:

For finding errors caused by inaccuracy during the filling in the questionnaire by responding units are responsible the administrative body-management of the respective business. A competent person checks the received data in questionnaire and knowing the local conditions (individual reporting units) he/she identifies the errors caused by inaccuracy of inputs.

 Validations of errors which may occur in data collection in municipal waste survey:

Supervisor in regional level checks the correctness of the completed questionnaires. This includes logical checks, the control of the identification number of responding units and control of the correctness of all the data in questionnaire.

2.2.4    Non-response errors 

The overall response rate of 72% was achieved which corresponds to 655 responding companies out of 845 companies selected.  

No correction for non-responses was carried out. Hence, the reported amounts reflect the generation of the responding companies.

2.2.5    Model assumption errors

There were not used methods for obtaining waste data, by which model assumption errors can occur.

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Non-response errors 

The overall response rate of 72% was achieved which corresponds to 655 responding companies out of 845 companies selected.  

No correction for non-responses was carried out. Hence, the reported amounts reflect the generation of the responding companies

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Time table of collecting and processing data on industrial waste is regulated based on the annual program of official statistics in Kosovo.

1             Timeliness and punctuality

Time table of collecting and processing data on industrial waste is regulated based on the annual program of official statistics in Kosovo.

Key steps

Preparatory phase

-       Sample survey, variables, time plan and questionnaire was finished on January February 2021

-       Constructing manual for interviewers, March 2021

-       Construct database, April 2021

Collecting phase

-       Interviewers collect data, Quality control May-June 2021

Data manipulation phase

-       Filling dataset with background data (Company name, number of employees, NACE, code etc.), June-July 2021

-       Put waste data in database (coding), July 2021

-       Calculation waste (For a specific business group NACE, and type of waste), September 2021

-       Calculate total waste, October 2021

Time table of collecting and processing data on municipal waste is regulated based on annual program of official statistics in Kosovo (APOS 2014).

Key steps

Preparatory phase

-       Sample survey, Variables, time plan questionnaire, February 2021

-       Constructing manual for interviewers, March 2021

-       Construct database, April 2021

Collecting phase

-       Interviewers collect data, April –May 2021

-       Quality control, June 2021

Data manipulation phase

-       Put waste data in database, July 2021

Calculation total waste, August 2021

Time table of collecting and processing data on municipal waste is regulated based on annual program of official statistics in Kosovo (APOS 2014).

Key steps

Preparatory phase

-       Sample survey, Variables, time plan questionnaire, February 2021

-       Constructing manual for interviewers, March 2021

-       Construct database, April 2021

Collecting phase

-       Interviewers collect data, April –May 2021

-       Quality control, June 2021

Data manipulation phase

-       Put waste data in database, July 2021

Calculation total waste, August 2021

Publication phase

-       Creating final tables, November 2021

-       Making diagrams, November 2021

-       Describing and explaining the tables, November 2021

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Time table of collecting and processing data on municipal waste is regulated based on annual program of official statistics in Kosovo (APOS 2014).

Key steps

Preparatory phase

-       Sample survey, Variables, time plan questionnaire, February 2021

-       Constructing manual for interviewers, March 2021

-       Construct database, April 2021

Collecting phase

-       Interviewers collect data, April –May 2021

-       Quality control, June 2021

Data manipulation phase

-       Put waste data in database, July 2021

Calculation total waste, August 2021    Publication 29 November 2021

Publication phase

-       Creating final tables, making the diagrams September   2021

-       Describing and explaining the tables, November 2021

-       Publication by the end of December 2021

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1             Comparability

KAS aims at improving surveys on municipal waste, on industrial waste and on waste treatment mainly through extension of the information collected and through harmonisation of the collected information with EU reporting requirements.

2             Coherence

The data for industrial waste reported to Eurostat are identical with the data published on the KAS web-site.

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New releases on-line at the time of data dissemination

KAS publications, tables and material for press release are always available in three languages: Albanian, English and Serbian.

KAS has online database: http://askdata.rks-gov.net/PXWeb/pxweb/en/askdata

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Users do not have direct access to micro-data but based on the law, researchers and institutions can request access through KAS.

GFS data are also published in the KAS Statistical Yearbook: http://ask.rksgov.net/media/3637/statistical-yearbook-of-the-republic-of-kosovo-2019.pdf

A brief explanation of the definitions, key concepts and methodological explanations for users is presented in the publication of data https://ask.rks-gov.net/media/6633/industrial-waste-survey-2020.pdf

SIMS (link for report will be added)

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The obligations of waste producers/companies to report data is established by Law on Waste (No. 02/L-30). This obligatory report is a relatively heavy burden for waste producers.

“Agency shall ensure that individual data collected for statistical purposes, whether collected from natural or legal persons, or bodies and organizations of the public administration (hereinafter “Respondents”), are handled in a strictly confidential manner and used exclusively for statistical purposes. Law 04/L-036, Article 34. “All respondents shall be obliged, in accordance with the applicable law, to cooperate and provide timely and accurately statistical data to the Agency, and to cooperate with the Agency to verify the accuracy of the collected data. Law 04/L-036, Article 21: http://ask.rks-gov.net/media/2024/law-onofficiial-statistics.pdf

Access to confidential data shall be permitted only to persons who are in charge of producing the official statistics up to that level that these data are necessary for producing statistics. Article 37, Law No. 04/L-036: http://ask.rks-gov.net/media/2024/law-on-officiial-statistics.pdf

The surveys are regulary