Indicator: HS-53 Total solid waste produced and disposed
Data
| NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic and Municipal | 1657 | 2133 | 1108 | na | 741 | na | na | 82 |
| Commercial& industrial | 2358 | na | 522 | na | 420 | na | na | 98 |
| Construction & demolition |
1193 | na | 200 | na | 1525 | na | na | 27 |
| Total C&I + C&D | 3551 | 2790 | 722 | na | 1955 | na | na | 125 |
| Other | - | 545 | 986 | na | - | na | na | - |
| Total (b) | 5208 | 5467 | 2815 | 1252 | 2696 | na | na | 207 |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na – not available
(a) – Data as reported by state and territory government departments and Environment Protection Authorities across all industries. Refer to the Technical Note on page 24 for an explanation of what the data represent.
(b) – Caution should be exercised when making state comparisons due to scope differences across states and territories.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004, Waste Management Services Australia 2002-03, Australian Bureau of Statistics, viewed 15 Dec 2005, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/
b06660592430724fca2568b5007b8619/ed9dd3a0166c50d9ca2568a9001393b7!OpenDocument, p. 15
| NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Australia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Received at liquid treatment plants operated by waste management businesses (a) | 263.6 ^ | 166.9 | 172.3 | np | np | np | np | np | 698.1 |
| Received for disposal at other facilities by waste management businesses (b) | 41.5 | 41.3 | 24.5 | np | np | np | np | np | 123.5 |
^ -estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) – excluded waste received at sewage treatment plants, landfills and transfer stations
(b) – excluded waste not handled by waste management services businesses and waste disposed of at landfills
np – not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004, Waste Management Services, Australia 2002-03, Australian Bureau of Statistics, p16.
| 2000 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|
| Waste oil (’000 tonnes) | ||
| Generated | 275 | 275 |
| Recycled | 0 | 5 |
| Incinerated with energy recovery | 165 | 227 |
| Used Tyres (’000 tonnes) | 170 | 197 |
| End-of-life vehicles (numbers) | 570 000 | 600 000 (estimate) |
Source: Department of the Environment and Heritage 2004, Wastes from selected non-hazardous waste streams 2000 & 2003, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra.
| Waste generated | Waste disposed | Waste recycled | Waste diversion rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kg/capita | kg/capita/$ billion GSP | kg/capita | kg/capita | % | |
| NSW | 1500 | 6.7 | 900 | 600 | 40 |
| Victoria | 1600 | 9.9 | 900 | 700 | 44 |
| Queensland | 1400 | 13.7 | 800 | 600 | 43 |
| SA ( Adelaide) | 1300 | 31.7 | 1000 | 300 | 23 |
| WA ( Perth) | 2400 | 34.8 | 1900 | 500 | 21 |
| Tasmania | 1100 | 100 | 900 | 200 | 18 |
| NT | 1900 | 271.4 | 1400 | 500 | 26 |
| ACT | 1900 | 146.2 | 800 | 1100 | 58 |
| Australia (average) | 1400 | n/a | 900 | 500 | 36 |
Source: WCS Market Intelligence 2001, Waste Generation Data, Australian Bureau of Statistics, viewed 29 Nov 2005, http://www.ecorecycle.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/981-waste-generation-data.asp.
What the data mean
The total amounts of waste produced and disposed to landfill remains high; the volume is estimated to be around one tonne per person per year (ABS 2003, 141). Although there have been significant reductions in the total amount of solid wastes generated in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory between 1996/97 and 2002/03, Victoria and Western Australia have experienced increases.
Across the three main categories of solid wastes disposed to landfill, municipal waste tends to be highest, followed by commercial and industrial and construction and demolition waste.
Wastes other than landfill collected for treatment from the trading sector amount to about 5% by weight of the waste disposed to landfill. Liquid wastes form the bulk of the wastes in this category.
The automotive related wastes (waste oil and used tyres) amounted to 472 tonnes in 2003. Out of these 5 tonnes (1%, compared to none in 2000) was recycled while 227 tonnes (48%, compared to 37% in 2000) of waste oil was incinerated with energy recovery.
In 2003 Australia generated an estimated 600 000 end-of-life vehicles. This was an approximately 5% increase over the number generated in 2000.
Issues for which this is an indicator and why
Human Settlements — Pressures created by human settlements on the environment - Waste
Quantities of total waste is the broadest indicator for the pressure of waste from human settlements on the environment.
Other indicators for this issue:
- HS-65 Amounts of hazardous waste
- HS-66 Gaseous emissions from waste
- LD-21 Area of land used for landfill
- LD-22 Rate of violations of residue levels in harvested products
- LD-37 Emissions from activities that derive contributions from the land
- IW-12 Catchment nitrogen and phosphorus load
- IW-14 Volume of sewage discharge to surface waters by treatment category (primary, secondary, tertiary)
- IW-15 Volume of sewage discharged to land
- CO-23 Aquaculture: volume of discharged sediments and nutrients
- CO-27 Number, frequency, extent and volume of oil spills from all sources
- CO-28 Quantity of discharges of different substances from humans activities to coastal and marine waters
- CO-51 Quantity of sewerage and ballast water dumped by shipping
Land — Direct pressure of human activities on the land - Pollution to and from the land
Solid and hazardous waste from human settlements is a primary source of land pollution.
Other indicators for this issue:
- LD-21 Area of land used for landfill
- LD-22 Rate of violations of residue levels in harvested products
- LD-36 Emissions to the land
- LD-37 Emissions from activities that derive contributions from the land
- IW-15 Volume of sewage discharged to land
- IW-16 Total pesticide use
Further Information
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