We live in a world where people buy things, discard them shortly, and don’t think about where all this dump is going to end up. 99% of the stuff we buy is thrashed in 6 months only. With the growing population, the issue of waste generation is only going to increase. In this blog, we have explored the latest waste management facts and statistics from all over the world. This will help you understand the problem better and make improvements in areas you can.
Amazing Waste Management Facts
Globally, waste production has risen alarmingly over the past few decades and there’s no sign of it slowing down as of now. Annually, over 2 billion metric tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) are generated in the world. What’s concerning is that this figure is estimated to shoot up by nearly 70 percent by 2050. It’s just one eye-opening fact about waste, some more fascinating ones are mentioned below:
1. Earliest Recycling Record: Tracing Back to 1031 AD
Although recycling’s modern concept started over 40 years ago, it has deeper roots than you can imagine. The concept of reusing materials dates back thousands of years.
In 1031 A.D., the Japanese shredded old documents and remade them into new paper. They then sold these sheets through local stores. Even worldwide, people reused containers to save some money. Eventually, when people realized the financial gains of selling raw materials, the recycling industry gained momentum.
2. Tracing Waste Management Roots: Landfilling in 3,000 BCE
It is the oldest waste disposal method and we can trace its history to around 3,000 BCE in Knossos, Crete. The ancient Minoans discarded their solid waste including single-use ceramic wine cups in large pits. They then filled these pits with earth over multiple levels.
Around 500 BCE, Athens established the first municipal rubbish dump. It required citizens to take garbage at least 1 mile beyond the city. In 320 BCE, another law was passed that prohibited rubbish disposal in Athens’ streets.
3. London’s Plague and Poor Waste Management
After 1348, England saw its worst plague outbreak in 1665. With 68,596 recorded deaths (likely exceeding 100,000), London lost nearly 15% of its population. The disease first appeared in spring outside the city walls. It peaked in September with 7,165 deaths in a week.
Rats were the reason behind this plague. They were drawn to city waste and carried fleas spreading the plague, particularly in poorer areas. Inadequate waste management and irresponsible rubbish disposal were partly responsible for thousands of deaths globally from bubonic plague and cholera.
4. Waste Colonialism: Affluent Nations’ Trash Exports
This practice is a big hurdle for global waste management. Often, it is exercised by wealthy nations. They outsource hazardous production and use poorer countries to dispose of their garbage. Did you know Europe’s electronic trash contributes to Ghana’s Agbogbloshie dump, known as Toxic City?
In these target countries, waste faces improper disposal methods. This not only results in harmful emissions but also adds to water and soil pollution, and plastic contamination. The EU exports more than 3 million kilograms of plastic waste daily. It primarily exports to Vietnam (9%), Indonesia (13%), Malaysia (16%), and Turkey (31%). Stricter waste export regulations are required to deal with the increasing illegal shipments worldwide.
5. Plastic Overload: A Million Bottles Every Minute
Although plastic serves a variety of purposes if we over-rely on single-use plastic products we’ll have to pay heftily. It will have a negative environmental, social, economic, and health impact.
All over the world, a million plastic bottles are bought each minute, and up to 5 trillion plastic bags are used each year. Half of all the plastic that’s created is for one-time use. After use, it is discarded and contributes to environmental pollution. It creates widespread microplastic contamination.
Also See: How to Reduce the Use of Plastic in Agriculture
6. Cigarette Butts Rule the Plastic Waste Scene
These butts have filters that contain tiny plastic fibers. This makes them one of the most common plastic waste found in the environment. Food wrappers, grocery bags, straws, plastic bottles, caps, and stirrers are the other prevalent parts of the waste.
These are all daily-use articles. We use and throw them without giving a second thought to where they may eventually end up. This fact about waste management is worth introspecting on.
7. Oceans Drowning: 75-199 Million Tonnes of Plastic
More than 1000 rivers are responsible for 80% of global annual riverine plastic emissions into the ocean. The emission annually ranges between 0.8 to 2.7 million tonnes. Surprisingly, small rivers emerge as the major polluters in this scenario.
Despite all our ongoing efforts, 75 to 199 million tonnes of plastic still currently exists in the oceans. Without changing how we produce, use, and dispose of plastic, the annual plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems could triple. It can go from 9-14 million tonnes per year in 2016 to about 23-37 million tonnes per year by 2040.
8. Christmas Paper Waste: A Festive Environmental Toll
In the UK, nearly 227,000 miles of Christmas wrapping paper is discarded annually. This roughly equals 108 million rolls and is equivalent to the Earth-to-moon distance.
By recycling this paper, you can cut energy use by 70%. In fact, just 1 ton of recycled paper can save around 18 square feet of landfill space, 17 trees, and 4,000 kilowatts of electricity per ton. It shows that even insignificant festive items can add to the global waste problem.
9. Disposable Nappies: Convenience at a Cost
Ask any parent about the best modern day invention, and disposable nappies will surely be mentioned. However, when they were first mass-produced in the late 1940s, we didn’t know the destructive impact they would have on our environment. These nappies are primarily made from wood pulp, cotton, and plastics, and strain local authorities during their disposal. Often mixed with babies’ waste, they are challenging to recycle.
The disposable nappy market is valued at nearly US$71 billion a year and is a major global waste contributor. Each minute, more than 300,000 disposable nappies are sent to landfills, incinerated, or end up in the environment.
10. Metal Packaging’s Everlasting Impact
Compared to plastic, metal and stainless steel packaging is surely more environmentally friendly. You can easily recycle or repurpose metals at home. There are specialized recycling facilities that melt it down to create pure raw materials.
However, improperly recycled metal items create problems. They can end up in landfills, where they’ll decompose slowly. Steel can take about 50 years to decompose, on the other hand, aluminum can last up to 200 years.
11. Glass in Landfills: A Million-Year Dilemma
Glass do not decompose and it is obviously not a good idea to dispose in a landfill. According to experts, it can take nearly 1 million years for a glass bottle to fully break down in a landfill.
This is why recycling them is the best option as there are several benefits and many jars and bottles we see in supermarkets are possibly made from years old glass.
12. Landfill Lifecycle: From Waste Site to Repurpose
A landfill is considered as a trash disposal site. It has been designed to prevent environmental pollution and health risks. Landfills aren’t like open dumps, they compact waste in layers to reduce volume and monitor liquid and gaseous effluents.
Once a landfill has reached its capacity, it is treated and then repurposed for agriculture or development.
Also, check out Interesting Landfills Facts and Stats
13. Pandemic Trash Surge: COVID-19’s Waste Fallout
There was a significant drop in recycling in Europe, Asia and the US during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not just this, at that time a new type of waste entered the cycle. It was from PPE and other single use items like masks and gloves.
According to the 2021 study by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the pandemic has a wide global impact on waste too. More than 8 million tons of plastic trash got accumulated and over 25000 tons of it entered the oceans during that period alone.
14. Recycling PP: Saves 5,774 Kilowatt-Hours of Energy
Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer used in many industries, including automobile and medical. It is unbelievable that in 2021 around 8% of around 400 million tons of oil in the world was solely used to manufacture plastic. This again raised the point that recycling PP is necessary to save resources and energy at large.
Recycling 1 ton of plastic (PP) saves about 5,774 kilowatt-hours of energy, 16.3 barrels (685 gallons) of oil, and 30 cubic yards of landfill space. All this eventually contributes to sustainability.
15. Wildlife Tales: How Trash Alters Animal Behavior
Animals are attracted to the food we throw in bins that end up in landfills. You won’t believe how this is affecting their lives. Their food chain is altered and even their reproduction cycle is affected. Other examples of altered animal behavior due to this waste are-
- White storks in Portugal skip migration for landfills. This increases their population.
- Australian jewel beetles’ mating habits were affected by beer bottle designs. The designs were later modified by companies.
- Kelp gulls in Argentina attack southern right whales due to landfill attraction. Efforts are still underway to protect the whales.
- Yellowstone National Park’s landfill attracted bears and this has led to conflicts. The dump was eventually closed to prevent bear-human interactions.
- Kenyan baboons are facing behavioral shifts because of lodge food scraps. Unintentionally they end up entering other groups’ territories, leading to group fights, infections, and death of aggressive male members of the group.
16. Oceanic Garbage Patches: Global Environmental Threat
Our waste has occupied so much space in oceans that an area as large as Hawaii to California is regarded as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Shocking, but what is more disturbing is the fact that it is affecting marine species beyond repair. They are losing track for migration and most end up losing their lives after ingesting microplastics and marine debris.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) identified two more such patches. One of them is in the South Pacific Ocean and the other is in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Major contributors to this garbage patch are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
17. Plastic Waste’s Criminal Underbelly Unveiled
There are many unknown consequences of exporting plastic waste. Stricter regulations on it have led to incidents such as unlawful disposal methods, smuggling, corruption, money laundering, and even allegations of human trafficking.
A Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GITOC) report showed a nearly 280% increase in illegal plastic trash disposal globally in 2020. It also highlighted a 2021 case involving one of the UK’s major waste management companies, Biffa Waste Management Service. The company faced serious allegations of trafficking 400 people from Poland to the UK. To sort trash, they paid them as little as €0.50 per hour.
To know more about such interesting waste management facts, check out the top companies involved in it.
18. Burn or Bury: Rethinking Waste Disposal
You might be shocked to know that from an environmental perspective, incinerating garbage is way better than putting it in landfills. Out of the 38 countries in the Sensoneo global waste index report, only 17 burn more waste than they bury.
These countries include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
19. Recycling Rates: Might be Misleading
Over time countries are taking initiatives in improving waste management techniques and recycling rates. South Korea, Germany and Sweden are some notable names due to their efforts.
In Germany, even less than 16% of recyclable waste designated for recycling is estimated to be reused. The main reason behind this issue is mixed materials in items. This waste management fact is truly astonishing.
Also, check out the 15 Problems with Recycling Plastic and Solutions for Recycling.
20. US Waste Disposal: 292 Million Tons
Every day each American discards around 4.9 pounds, amounting to around 1800 pounds of waste annually. Most of this household and business trash is either burned in incinerators or ends up in landfills.
Do you know that back in 2018, the US disposed of more than 292 million tons of municipal solid waste? So what could be done to control this situation? Read ahead to find out waste reduction statistics.
Top Waste Management Statistics
In this industry, there are numerous statistics and emerging trends. Here are the best waste management statistics and facts you should know about-
1. Turkey: World’s Top Waste Producer
Sensoneo’s 2022 Global Waste Index did a comprehensive analysis of garbage management in 38 countries. In it, Turkey emerged as the top global waste producer. In 2019, recycling wasn’t even a part of Turkey’s waste management, but 3 years later, the country embraced it. It started handling 47 kilograms of waste per capita.
However, the major ongoing concern is the massive amount of illegally dumped trash in Turkey. Here each person improperly discards around 176 kilograms. Other major waste-producing countries in this 2022 index are Latvia, Chile, Mexico, and Italy.
2. Paper Waste
In 2018, the EPA used data from AF&PA and determined that 67.4 million tons of paper and paperboard were discarded. This made up 23.1% of our trash. Out of this waste, nearly 46 million tons were recycled, achieving a 68.2% recycling rate, the highest among trash materials.
Different types of paper waste have different recycles rates. For example, newspapers had 64.8%, paper containers and packaging had 20.8%, while corrugated boxes excelled with 96.5%. In 2018, nearly 4.2 million tons of paper and paperboard were combusted. Additionally, 17.2 million tons of MSW paper and paperboard were dumped in landfills.
For more details, you can also take a look at 4 Types of Waste and 5 Disposal Methods
3. Food Waste
Annually, about one-third of the world’s food is wasted or lost. This incorporates 1.3 billion tons of food suitable for humans and another 1.6 billion tons of primary product equivalents.
Much of this unused food decomposes in landfills and produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In October 2023, the U.S. EPA also issued reports measuring methane from food waste in landfills. It further updated suggestions on handling it.
4. E-waste
As per the 2020 e-waste monitoring report from the UN, the United States is accountable for producing about 46 pounds of electronic waste per person annually. Globally, nearly 53.6 million metric tons e-waste are generated each year.
It’s quite alarming that only about 17% of this trash is properly collected, documented, and recycled worldwide each year. The remaining 83% either sits idle in homes and businesses or is improperly disposed of.
5. Plastic Waste
Plastic doesn’t break down naturally like other materials. Nearly 22% of plastic waste becomes litter and about 46% ends up in landfills. The pollution associated with this waste not only damages soil, harms marine life, and contaminates groundwater, but also poses several health risks.
Additionally, producing plastic is also one of the most energy-intensive processes worldwide. The production is dependent on fossil fuels like crude oil. In 2019, plastics were accountable for 1.8 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. They were responsible for 3.4% of the global emissions.
6. Textile Waste
The EPA estimated that in 2018 around 17 million tons of textiles were generated. They then became a part of nearly 5.8% of the total MSW generation that year. This estimate for clothing and footwear was formed on the basis of sales data from the American Apparel and Footwear Association.
Although a notable amount of textiles enters the reuse market, these reused textiles are not included in the generation estimate.
The reused garments and wiper rags at the end enter the waste stream and become part of the MSW generation. In 2018, the recycling rate for all textiles was 14.7% and only 2.5 million tons were recycled.
Also, take a look at our blog – How can the Fashion Industry be more Sustainable?
7. Construction Waste
Although the world was battling COVID in 2022, the construction activities didn’t stop. This year also the construction as well as demolition activities produced over 37% of all waste in the European Union (EU-27). It was a percentage rise as compared to 32.5% in 2012.
Despite this increase, many European countries still achieved a recovery rate of more than 90% for construction and demolition waste in 2018.
8. Hazardous Waste
Improper trash management doesn’t only pose risks to the environment but also to human health. In 2020, in the EU, about 4.4% of total waste (equal to 95.5 million tonnes) was found hazardous. This year saw a 5.1% increase compared to 2010. In 2018, it reached a peak of 102.0 million tonnes. The decrease in 2020 can be associated with less burning of solid fuels.
In 2020, the proportion of hazardous waste in total waste generation ranged from 0.5% in Romania to 12.0% in Bulgaria within the EU. Outside the EU, Türkiye had the highest share (28.5%), followed by North Macedonia (28.2%), Montenegro (27.6%), Serbia (19.3%), and Norway (13.3%).
9. Waste Disposal Methods
As per the World Bank’s 2018 data, most waste is either dumped or placed into landfills globally. Precisely, about 37% of waste is disposed of in landfills, out of which 8% is put in sanitary landfills with gas collection systems.
Open dumping deals with about 31% of waste, 19% is recovered through recycling and composting, and 11% is incinerated for final disposal.
10. Recycling Rates
The EU-27 has made significant process in waste recycling. However, its recent trends showcase stagnation and even reduction in packaging waste recycling. Most waste was still incinerated or landfilled in 2021. But to achieve circularity in Europe, there is a need for ambitious waste management policies to boost recycling as well as discourage landfills and incineration.
In 2020, recycling rates for municipal, packaging, and e-waste had slowly increased and reached an overall rate of 46%. In 2021, the highest rates were seen in packaging (64%), municipal (49%), and e-waste (39%).
With this, we have discovered the earliest record of waste management, its failures, waste colonialism, and pandemic surge. It has given us a glimpse of how much clothes, paper, and even food is wasted each year. All this will help us introspect better, understand what needs work, and develop sustainable habits. Stay tuned to read such lesser known waste reduction facts.
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