Municipal waste generated per capita

What is the trend in municipal waste generation?

Municipal waste is mainly composed of waste collected from households, but also includes similar waste from sources such as commerce, offices, institutions and small businesses and municipal services such as street cleaning.

This waste stream provides the best indicator for assessing performance in terms of generation and treatment of waste, due to its close relationship with consumption and GDP.

In 2010 municipal waste generated fell once again, this time by 7.1 per cent to 248,672 tonnes, most of which (81.1 per cent) was landfilled, while 7.7 per cent was recycled, up from four per cent in 2009, while six per cent was recovered. The recent decline in municipal waste generated in comparison with the increasing trend registered over the years may be due to the economic climate in 2009-2010.

In 2010, each Maltese resident generated 595.5kg of municipal waste, 50.8kg less municipal waste per capita than in 2009, but still relatively high in comparison with the EU average, which was 503kg per capita in 2010.

For more information see The Environment Report Indicators 2010-2011 at http://www.mepa.org.mt/teri2010-2011 .