Waste Generation

Waste is defined as ‘any substance or object which the holder discards, or, intends or is required to discard.’ Waste is classified according to the Statistical European Waste Classification (EWC-Stat. Version 4). This classification has been published in the Waste Statistics Regulation 2150/2002 (WStatR) and is a substance-oriented nomenclature used to report waste generation data. According to Annex 1, Section 2 of the WStatR, for reporting purposes, the EWC-Stat is aggregated into 51 items. Waste generation refers to waste arising from all economic activities and/or households located within the geographical territory of the country. Primary waste generation refers to waste that arises as a result of production and consumption processes. Secondary waste is generated by waste treatment facilities during the process of waste treatment and includes waste that should undergo further treatment either by disposal or recovery operations. This dataset includes both primary and secondary waste generation. Waste recycled on the site where it was generated is excluded. Economic activities are classified according to the ‘statistical classification of economic activities’ in the European Community (NACE). These are aggregated into 18 items according to Section 8 in Annex 1 of the WStatR.