1. Streamlining of Environmental Indicators Agenda item 5
Proposals for Streamlining of
Municipal Waste Indicators (Cluster 23)
Jürgen Gonser
ARGUS, Berlin
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

2. Structure Overview on European waste indicators
Overview on municipal waste indicators
Indicators on municipal waste generated
Comparison
Proposals for streamlining
Indicators on municipal treatment
Conclusions for streamlining
Results
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

3. Overview of European Waste Indicators
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

4. Indicators on Municipal Waste (MW)
Municipal waste (MW) indicators have been the most frequently used / most important waste indicators.
Reasons:
Important waste stream in terms of quantity and quality
Data availability / quality better than for other waste streams
Result:
MW indicators are used as proxies for overall waste generation and treatment due to the lack of a better indicator
Main advantages: good quality and long time series
Main shortcomings:
Reflects only a share of the generated waste total
Comparability across countries is limited
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

5. Overview on MW Indicators
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

6. Data source / data collection
Until reference year 2003:
Municipal waste indicators were based on data collected via the OECD/Eurostat questionnaire on the state of the environment (Joint Questionnaire, JQ)
Since reference year 2004:
Eurostat collects data on municipal waste annually through a small dedicated questionnaire
The Eurostat questionnaire follows the concept and definitions of the JQ in order to maintain and continue the time series
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

7. MW generation: Data collection
Data collected on waste generation:
Municipal waste generated (1000 tonnes)
Coverage of municipal waste collection systems (% of population)
Amounts of municipal waste generated should include the municipal waste collected plus an estimate of the waste generated by the population not covered by a collection system.
Data on the coverage of the MW collection system builds the basis of this estimate.
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

8. MW generation: Comparison of indicators
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

9. MW generation: Streamlining potential
SDI tsdpc 210 / SI tsien 120 are completely identical
no potential for streamlining
Streamlining Potential between CSI 016 and SDI tsdpc 210 / SI tsien 120 :
Uniform naming (although difference is small)
Harmonisation of metainformation on methodology and data quality
Timing of assessments in order to have the latest and most complete data available
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

10. MW generation: Proposals for streamlining
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

11. MW treatment: Data collection
Data on the amounts of waste treated are collected by the following treatment categories:
MW landfilled
MW incinerated, of which
with energy recovery
without energy recovery
MW recycled
MW composted
Data colletion on recycling and composting was discontinued in 2004 and re-introduced in 2007.
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

12. MW treatment: Comparison of indicators
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

13. MW treatment: Potential for streamlining
SDI tsdpc 240 and SI tsien 130 use the same base data and are identical with regard to methodology
Streamlining potential exists with regard to:
Naming: no reason for different indicator names
Update / harmonisation of metadata: Information on the treatment categories recycling and composting should be included
Integration of all treatment categories in:
Dedicated indicator tables
Database (accomplished since )
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

14. MW treatment: Proposals for streamlining
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011

15. Results
Streamlining would make visible that there are only two indicators on municipal waste that are used in different indicator initiatives:
Indicator “Municipal waste generation”
SDI tsdpc 210, SI tsien 120, CSI 016
Indicator “Municipal waste treatment”
SDI tsdpc 240, SI tsien 130
The proposal would provide more clarity to the users about the identity of the indicators
Number of indicators published would remain the same
Workshop “Streamlining of Environmental Indicators”, 22nd/23rd February 2011