Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The Sankey diagrams show the flows of materials as they pass through the EU economy and are eventually discharged back into the environment or re-fed into the economic processing.
In this dataset, flows of waste are approximated using European waste statistics collected under Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002.
On the basis of the Regulation on waste statistics (EC) No. 2150/2002, amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 849/2010, data on the generation and treatment of waste is collected from the Member States. The information on waste treatment is broken down to treatment types: Recovery (recycling – RCV_R; backfilling – RCV_B) and Disposal (incineration – DSP_I; landfill – DSP_L; Other – DSP_OTH). These treatment operations can be broken down by main material categories as defined and applied in economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA), namely biomass, metal ores, non-metallic minerals and fossil energy materials/carriers.
3.2. Classification system
The data set is broken down in waste management operations and type of material.
On the basis of the treatment operations defined in the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC, a distinction is made in waste management operations:
Recovery – recycling and backfilling (RCV_R_B): operations R2 to R11;
Disposal – other (DSP_OTH): Operations D2, D3, D4, D6, D7
Disposal – landfill and other (DSP_L_OTH): Operations D1-D7, D12
The data set env_wastrt contains a breakdown into 51 waste categories according to the European Waste Classification for statistical purposes: EWC-Stat. To avoid double counting or counting waste not included in domestic extraction, the following waste categories have not been included in the calculation of the Sankey diagram flows, regarding the treatment category disposal:
Sludges and liquid wastes from waste treatment (W033);
Animal faeces, urine and manure (W093);
Soils (W126);
Dredging spoils (W127);
Mineral wastes from waste treatment and stabilised wastes (W128_13).
Secondary waste is not included.
The data have been also broken down by four main material categories as defined and applied in economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA), namely biomass, metal ores, non-metallic minerals and fossil energy materials/carriers (see factors of correspondence).
3.3. Coverage - sector
The database on waste treatment does not include pre-treatment activities (like sorting, drying), but only the final treatment.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Waste: any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard.
The sludges (including the dredging spoils) are measured in dry matter.
The creation of the data set requires the correspondence of waste codes to the main material flows.
3.5. Statistical unit
Reporting units may be: legal units (e.g. producers, importers, exporters, distributors) local units or households, etc. They report on their data on kind-of activity unit or local unit level. Observation units are units of weight of waste and units of weight per capita.
3.6. Statistical population
All waste treated within the borders of a country (consequently excluding exports and including imports of waste).
3.7. Reference area
Data are presented for all EU Member States, plus United Kingdom (until 2019 included).
EU aggregate is also available.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Presented time series starts in 2010.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Thousand tonnes.
Tonnes per capita.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2002 on waste statistics.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1445/2005 of 5 September 2005 defining the proper quality evaluation criteria an the contents of the quality reports for waste statistics.
Commission Regulation (EU) No 849/2010 of 27 September 2010 amending Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste statistics.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
There is no data sharing with other international organisations; international organisations can use the data as published in the dissemination database.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
The Member States are responsible for the confidentiality treatment of their data (primary and secondary). In agreement with the MS, EU aggregates are rounded to 10.000 t to hide confidential data at country level.
Confidential data is not treated; the cells appear as missing with a confidentiality flag.
8.1. Release calendar
There is no release calendar; data dissemination is explained in item 9 below.
8.2. Release calendar access
No particular provisions.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Data are up-dated and disseminated at least once every second year when data on waste treatment becomes available.
Detailed information on the methodology is planned to be documented in a methodological report.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The Member States describe the sources and methods in a quality report. A summary of the quality information at the European level is found in report to the European Parliament and to the Council: quality of waste statistics.
11.1. Quality assurance
The quality assurance is a joint responsibility of the Member States and Eurostat. The Member States conduct the data collection and describe their sources and methods in a quality report (see the link under 10.7). Eurostat can make comparisons over the countries and will discuss the issue of comparability with the countries. Concepts, classifications and formats are defined in European legislation; the countries remain free to choose the sources and methods that fit them best. A link to a summary assessment is also found under item 10.7.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
See the items 10.7 and 11.1 above.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The users include policy makers in environmental ministries, environmental organisations, researchers, students and interested citizens.
The circular economy aims at increasing the amount of material recovered and fed back into the economy, therefore reducing the generation of waste and limiting the extraction of primary raw materials.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
The data sets have a high level of completeness. A few data cells are confidential; this concerns mainly smaller countries. Some other data cells are missing because no proper data source was available; the countries concerned are working to make their data more complete.
In case of missing data, Eurostat gap-fills the missing information. Since data are only available only every second year, Eurostat has also estimated data for the missing odd years.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
See items 10.7 and 11.1 above.
13.2. Sampling error
Due to the freedom of the countries to choose their methods, sampling methods were used by some countries in some parts of the reporting tables. An overall assessment is not possible, for the assessment at country level look into the documents referred to in 10.7.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Due to the freedom of the countries to choose their methods the non-sampling errors are difficult to summarise at the European level. For the assessment at country level look into the documents referred to in 10.7.
14.1. Timeliness
Within two years after the reference period.
14.2. Punctuality
Not available.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Due to the common definitions and classifications the comparability over the countries is good.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The data is comparable over time unless otherwise stated. A break in series flag will be applied to indicate significant changes in methods.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The data are to a high degree internally coherent (totals are equal to the sum of the breakdowns).
The information on the generation of waste cannot be directly linked to the information on the treatment of waste for several reasons. The generation of waste concerns the waste produced in the country, the treatment of waste the waste treated in the country, so differences can occur due to import and export of waste. Moreover, the generation of waste includes the waste produced by waste treatment activities (sorting, composting, incineration), whereas the treatment table only includes the final treatment. Waste treatment is a process which takes time and in the meanwhile some of the weight might be lost (drying). In short, the two components of waste statistics, generation and treatment, will be equal rather by coincidence.
The cost and burden are low due to the level of automation.
Reported errors are assessed for seriousness to determine whether they should trigger a correction of already disseminated data. Reported errors that are deemed to be significant are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated. Minor errors are corrected in the disseminated data in connection with the next regular yearly publication cycle.
Data may be published even if they are missing for certain countries or flagged as provisional/estimated or of low reliability for certain countries. They are completed/replaced with final data in connection with the next regularly yearly production cycle.
Every year Eurostat re-publishes the complete time series, which may lead to revisions of data previously published for any reference period.
18.1. Source data
The Member States are free to decide on the data collection methods. The general options are: surveys, administrative sources, statistical estimations or some combination of methods. The Member States describe the sources and methods in the quality reports.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Biennial.
18.3. Data collection
The original data is collected by the Member States and then forwarded to Eurostat. Member States collect data from administrative sources and in many cases conduct business surveys on waste generation stratified by NACE activity. The survey method and sampling strategy varies from country to country (paper questionnaire, web questionnaire, CATI, etc.).
18.4. Data validation
Data validation is done by Eurostat in close cooperation with Member States' competent authorities.
Certain data format checks are carried out during the data entry. The validation routines at Eurostat include checks related to consistency, plausibility, development over time and clarification requests sent to countries in case of observations.
Methodology reports from countries are consulted during the validation process.
18.5. Data compilation
The European aggregates are calculated by adding up the national waste amounts. EU aggregates are compiled when the available countries represent 60% of the population and 55% of the number of countries defining the aggregate; data for missing countries are estimated on the basis of the previous year.
For the calculation of tonne per capita the data in tonnes are divided by the average population of the relevant year (AVG). The average population is taken from the table 'Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates at national level' (demo_gind).
The Sankey diagrams show the flows of materials as they pass through the EU economy and are eventually discharged back into the environment or re-fed into the economic processing.
In this dataset, flows of waste are approximated using European waste statistics collected under Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002.
On the basis of the Regulation on waste statistics (EC) No. 2150/2002, amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 849/2010, data on the generation and treatment of waste is collected from the Member States. The information on waste treatment is broken down to treatment types: Recovery (recycling – RCV_R; backfilling – RCV_B) and Disposal (incineration – DSP_I; landfill – DSP_L; Other – DSP_OTH). These treatment operations can be broken down by main material categories as defined and applied in economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA), namely biomass, metal ores, non-metallic minerals and fossil energy materials/carriers.
21 May 2025
Waste: any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard.
The sludges (including the dredging spoils) are measured in dry matter.
The creation of the data set requires the correspondence of waste codes to the main material flows.
Reporting units may be: legal units (e.g. producers, importers, exporters, distributors) local units or households, etc. They report on their data on kind-of activity unit or local unit level. Observation units are units of weight of waste and units of weight per capita.
All waste treated within the borders of a country (consequently excluding exports and including imports of waste).
Data are presented for all EU Member States, plus United Kingdom (until 2019 included).
EU aggregate is also available.
Calendar year.
See items 10.7 and 11.1 above.
Thousand tonnes.
Tonnes per capita.
The European aggregates are calculated by adding up the national waste amounts. EU aggregates are compiled when the available countries represent 60% of the population and 55% of the number of countries defining the aggregate; data for missing countries are estimated on the basis of the previous year.
For the calculation of tonne per capita the data in tonnes are divided by the average population of the relevant year (AVG). The average population is taken from the table 'Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates at national level' (demo_gind).
The Member States are free to decide on the data collection methods. The general options are: surveys, administrative sources, statistical estimations or some combination of methods. The Member States describe the sources and methods in the quality reports.
Data are up-dated and disseminated at least once every second year when data on waste treatment becomes available.
Within two years after the reference period.
Due to the common definitions and classifications the comparability over the countries is good.
The data is comparable over time unless otherwise stated. A break in series flag will be applied to indicate significant changes in methods.
