(kg per capita per year)
Note: Municipal solid waste data around the world are often inconsistent
in their definitions and methods.
These data are not meant to rank countries but to provide trends and an overview.
From the World Bank Group's report What a Waste 2.0: On average in 2016, it is estimated that the world produces 0.74 kilograms of waste per capita per day. This may sound very little on its own, but it means that in total the world produced around 2 billion tonnes municipal solid waste in a year.
In the map, you may have noticed that the fluctuations across countries are wide. Most notably, developed countries like North America and Europe are in the higher spectrum of waste production due to urbanisation. So how is England doing in terms of waste statistics?
Here we can see that the total waste generated by households steadily decreases from roughly 500 kg per capita per year in 2000 to about 425 kg in 2018. Comparatively, the total household recycling also steadily increases from 50 to around 175 kg per capita per year in 2018.
Yet, the trend of both statistics imply little change in the near future. It seems to have reached a plateau around 2010 with mild fluctuations in the following years. There is still much to be done for the environment.
Did you know? On average:
Household recycling had a good start from the start of the century. The recycling rate increases from only 11% in 2000 to over 40% in 2010. Yet, the recycling rate seems to have reached a plateau as the recycling rate fluctuates around 40% to 45%.
The proposed EU target for recycling rate in 2020 is to reach 50%. Judging from the trend, it might a considerable amount of time before England can reach the target set. We can take a closer look into the recycling stream to see which categories are being recycled the most.
Within organic recycling, separately collected food waste only contributes to roughly 10% of the organic recycling stream. Other organic waste contains waste such as food and garden waste.
For dry recycling, paper and card contribute over 2000 thousand tonnes to the recycling stream. That's roughly 38 kg of used paper and card per person in 2018.
If we are to protect the envionment and at least reach the goal of 50% recycling rate, we need to do more than our current habits.
