Statistics Explained

Archive:Waste shipment statistics based on the European list of waste codes

Data extracted in November 2014. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

Eurostat has published data and analysis on transboundary waste shipments in Statistics Explained since 2011. The data and analysis cover a variety of aspects of the waste shipments, although generally on an aggregated level. This article describes the potential of using the European List of Waste (LoW) classification in addition to the Basel Convention classification to produce better information about notified transboundary shipments of wastes.

Table 1: Data on hazardous and non-hazardous waste not reported but calculated with data of other Member States. Member States where data are available for all import export flows are not listed in this table
Figure 1: The top ten Basel Y-codes by amounts of exported hazardous waste reported (1 000 tonnes), EU-28, 2012, Source: Eurostat
Table 2: The top twenty amounts of hazardous waste shipments exported from EU Member States according to the European List of Waste classification (tonnes), EU-28, 2012, Source: Eurostat
Table 3: The top 20 European List of Waste codes for non-hazardous notified waste shipments exported from EU Member States by quantity (tonnes), EU-28, 2012, Source: Eurostat
Table 4: Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment exported from EU Member States according to the European List of Waste classification (tonnes), EU-28, 2012, Source: Eurostat
Table 5: The top ten types of hazardous wastes shipped from EU Member States, the top three types of treatment for shipments of these wastes and the top three export and import countries according to the European List of Waste classification (tonnes), EU-28, 2012, Source: Eurostat
Table 6: The top three types of treatment and the top three export and import countries of the top ten notified non-hazardous wastes accord-ing to the European List of Waste classification (tonnes), EU-28, 2012, Source: Eurostat

In the European Union (EU), transboundary shipments are regulated by Regulation 1013/2006 on shipments of waste, commonly referred to as the Waste Shipment Regulation (WShipR). This implements the Basel Convention, which bans the exports of hazardous waste from OECD countries to non-OECD countries. The ban is in place to prevent hazardous waste being shipped to countries that do not have proper and sufficient waste treatment capacity. According to the WshipR, all hazardous waste as well as some non-hazardous but problematic waste streams and other wastes defined by the WShipR, must be notified to the authorities before it is shipped across borders.

Main statistical findings

Reporting to the Basel Secretariat only includes the Basel Y-codes and, to a large extent, the detailed Basel codes. The European List of Waste codes (LoW) are not requested. However, information about the notified shipped waste can be greatly enhanced if the Member States also indicate the European LoW codes in their reporting. Eurostat has therefore requested that EU Member States indicate the LoW codes in their reporting under the WshipR if possible.

Although it is not obligatory, many Member States have reported the European LoW codes. This data can be used to construct data for those Member States that did not include European LoW codes in their reporting. For example, when no data on LoW is present for country A, LoW import-data from all other Member States can be used as export-data for country A. Similarly, reported export data from other countries can be used to construct country A’s import data. Table 1 gives an overview of whether countries available data or calculated data are used in the following analysis.

Germany imports a large quantity of hazardous waste and other notified waste, and also state the European LoW code for this import, which makes it possible to construct many of the missing export data for the other Member States that have not enclosed that information in their reporting.

Hazardous waste based on LoW

All together 5.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste were exported by the 28 EU Member States in 2012. Note that the terms 'export' and 'import' are used for transboundary shipments of waste both within the EU and to other OECD countries.

Figure 1 shows the ten top Basel Y-codes by quantity of exported hazardous waste. These ten codes cover 3.4 million tonnes out of the total 5.2 million tonnes. A very large part of the shipped hazardous waste, approximately 1.1 million tonnes, falls under Y-18 – Residues arising from in-dustrial waste disposal operations.

The ten top hazardous LoW codes only cover 2.2 million tonnes, and the twenty top hazardous LoW codes cover 2.9 million tonnes (see Table 2). In fact, the top 32 hazardous LoW codes by quantity are needed to describe the same amount of exported hazardous waste as the top ten hazardous Basel Y-codes by quantity. This clearly indicates how much more additional information about the exported waste it is possible to obtain by using the European LoW classification.

Construction and demolition wastes in the top

Table 2 shows, surprisingly, that a large part of the exported hazardous waste types comes from construction and demolition activities (LoW codes starting 17) such as polluted soil (170503*), contaminated glass, plastic and wood(170204*) and bituminous mixtures containing coal tar (170301*). Waste from waste treatment facilities (LoW codes starting with 19) is also exported in high quantities. This is consistent with the high amount of Y-18 according to the Basel classification, but the LoW codes allows for more precisely identifying the type of waste.

For example, that the waste residues from waste treatment are from incineration of waste, including fly ash containing hazardous substances (190113*), solid wastes from gas treat-ment (190107*) and waste from mechanical treatment of waste (sorting, crushing etc.) starting with code 19 12 xx, including wood containing dangerous substances (191206*). Lead batteries (160601*) and mineral based non-chlorinated engine, gear and lubricating oils (130205*) are also exported in high quantities.

Non-hazardous notified waste based on LoW

8.5 million tonnes of non-hazardous waste are exported as notified waste. The Basel systems has only two Y-codes for non-hazardous waste: Y-46 and Y-47. The LoW codes gives a much better understanding of the type of waste exported. The top 20 non-hazardous waste types by the Euro-pean LoW are shown in Table 3. These constitute about 7.9 million tonnes.

Again, wastes from waste treatment (LoW codes starting with 19) top the list. In particular, there are large quantities of waste from the mechanical treatment of waste (codes starting with 19 12 xx), including combustible waste or refuse derived fuel (191210), wood (191207), other wastes from mechani-cal treatment (191212), but also mixed municipal waste (LoW 200301). Construction and demolition activities (codes starting with LoW 17) are also well represented by the notified non-hazardous waste, especially soil and stones (170504) and dredging spoil (170506).

Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equip-ment (WEEE) export cannot be identified under the Basel Y-codes, but different types of WEEE export can be distinguished using the LoW codes, including hazardous WEEE and non-hazardous notified WEEE exports. Table 4 shows the quantities of different types of hazardous and non-hazardous notified WEEE exported in 2012. These wastes include, transformers and capacitors containing PCBs (160209*), freezers containing chlorofluorocarbons (160211* and 200123*), hazardous components removed from discarded electrical and electronic equipment (160215*), non-hazardous components removed from discarded equipment (160216), discarded equipment other than hazardous (160214 and 200136), fluorescent tubes and other mercury-containing waste (200121*).

Hazardous waste – top treatment, export and import countries

It is possible to link wastes classified by a European LoW code to the most common treatment that the waste is exported for, and identify the largest export and import countries for the waste type.

Table 5 shows the top ten amounts of hazardous waste shipments exported from EU Member States according to the European LoW classification, and the respective top three treatments for those wastes, as well the top three export and import countries.

Please note: The total of the three most common treatment types does not equal the total amount of the export of the concerned waste. For example, 460 885 tonnes of soil and stones containing dangerous substances (LoW code 170503*) are identified of which 199 587 tonnes is exported for D1, 96 046 tonnes for R12 and 58 331 tonnes for R5; the remainder receives other types of treatment. Treatment code ‘Mix’ means that for the stated amount more than one treatment code has been allocated in the reporting to the waste type. Recovery (R) and the disposal (D) codes refer to the operations included in Annex IA of the WshipR and Annex I and II of EU’s Waste Framework Directive/2008/98/EC.

Table 5 provides an indication of the extent to which the shipped wastes receive mostly homoge-nous treatment. Over 40 % of soil and stones containing dangerous substances (LoW 170503*) is land-filled as a D1 operation, while about 20 % is shipped for an R12 operation (Exchange of wastes for submission to any of the recovery operations numbered R1 to R11) and 13  % is recycled or reclaimed. That is to say, Soil and stones containing dangerous substances are shipped for different types of recovery and disposal operations. Furthermore, 97  % of the total amount of soil and stones containing dangerous substances is exported from Luxembourg, Belgium and France, while Germany and the Netherlands receive 96  % of the export of this waste type.

Fly ash containing dangerous substances (LoW 190113*) is generated by incineration of waste. Table 5 shows that EU countries with the largest incineration capacity per capita such as Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark also have the largest export of hazardous wastes generated by in-cineration of waste. More than 90  % of the export of this waste type comes from these three countries, while Norway and Germany are the largest importers of these wastes.

About 150 000 tonnes of exported mineral-based non-chlorinated engine, gear and lubricating oils (LoW 130205*) are used for refining or other reuses of previously used oil (R9). France, Belgium and Sweden are the main exporters of this waste type, while Germany receives more than 60  % of all export of this waste type.

Table 6 shows the top three types of treatment and the top three export and import countries of the top ten notified non-hazardous wastes. The United Kingdom exported almost 650 000 tonnes of combustible waste (LoW code 191210) for energy recovery (R1), which is generated as wastes from mechanical treatment of wastes. The main import countries are the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.

More than 3 million tonnes of non-hazardous waste are exported from United Kingdom to energy recovery operation R1 in other EU Member. The waste is either combustible waste (LoW 191219) or wood (LoW 191207) or other wastes from mechanical treatment of wastes (191212). However the Netherlands and Germany dominate the export of mixed municipal waste (LoW 200301) exported for incineration without any pre-sorting (R1 and D10).

Conclusions

Using the codes of the European LoW in addition to the Basel codes provides a much better under-standing of the transboundary shipments of waste in Europe. The main added value is related to the:

  • type of waste transboundary shipped;
  • processes behind the generation of the wastes;
  • special hazardousness or hazardous substances related to the waste;
  • possibilities for assessment of required waste treatment capacities.

It is therefore important that Member States include the European LoW code when reporting trans-boundary waste shipments to Eurostat. The information based on the European LoW clearly indicates that much of the transboundary shipped waste is the result of better waste management and the reduction of landfilling. Mechanical sorting of mixed waste, recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion and incineration with energy recovery generate recyclable materials and energy, but they also generate new waste types, which must subsequently be treated.

The generation of these new wastes can be seen as a consequence of both EU and national initiatives introduced in the last 15 - 20 years that stipulate certain minimum recycling and recovery requirements for different waste types. The EU has introduced minimum recycling and recovery requirements for household and construction and demolition waste in the Waste Framework Directive, for packaging waste in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive and for electrical and electronic waste in the Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).

The EU has also introduced new and more ambitious emission standards for industrial and waste treatment plants, for example, the IPPC Directive requiring industrial and agricultural ac-tivities with a high pollution potential to obtain a permit that can only be issued if certain environ-mental conditions are met.

The Waste Incineration Directive and the Waste Water Treatment Directive are also important EU legislation in this regard. More ambitious standards often generate more flue-gas cleaning wastes or sewage sludge, and these wastes must also be treated properly.

Context

Article 51 (1) of the WshipR states that, before the end of each calendar year, each Member State shall send the Commission a copy of the report for the previous calendar year which, in accordance with Article 13(3) of the Basel Convention, it has drawn up and submitted to the Secretariat of that Convention.

The shipment notification application form used in EU is included as Annex VII of the WShipR. It asks for information on:

  • Basel Y codes according to Annex I and Annex II of the Basel Convention (47 different numbers are available of which 45 are hazardous);
  • detailed Basel codes according to Annex VIII and IX of the Convention (120 numbers are available of which 60 are hazardous);
  • OECD codes(150 different numbers are available of which 60 are hazardous);
  • European List of Waste codes (790 numbers are available of which 384 are hazardous).

See also

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

Dedicated section

Source data for tables, figures and maps on this page (MS Excel)

Other information

External links

  • European Commission - DG Environment
    • Commission report of 7 August 2012 on the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community, and on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste - Generation, treatment and transboundary shipment of haz-ardous waste and other waste in the Member States of the European Union (2007-2009) COM(2012) 448 Final - not published in the Official Journal. Annex to this report: Part 1 and Part 2 (Commission staff working document SWD(2012) 244 final of 7 August 2012)
    • Commission report of 24 June 2009 (COM(2009) 282 final) on the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the Eu-ropean Com-munity
Retrieved from "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Archive:Waste_shipment_statistics_based_on_the_European_list_of_waste_codes&oldid=231046"