Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search

Queensland and NSW floods 2022

Visit recovery.gov.au to see what help is available.

Close
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Ministers
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Climate change
    Climate change Driving climate action, science and innovation so we are ready for the future.
    • Climate science and adaptation
    • Australia's climate change strategies
    • Emissions reduction
    • Emissions reporting
    • International commitments
    • Climate Active
    • Climate change publications and data
    • Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts (Emissions Data)
    Stronger action on climate change

    Stronger action on climate change

    See how the Australian Government is committed to taking more ambitious action on climate change.

    Find out more

  • Energy
    Energy Building a secure and sustainable energy system for all Australians.
    • Energy policy in Australia
    • Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council
    • Renewable energy
    • Energy publications
    • energy.gov.au
    • Energy Rating
    • Commercial Building Disclosure Program
    • Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS)
    • Your Home
    Decorative image

    Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme

    Guiding energy-efficient design and construction for a net-zero future

    Find out more about NatHERS

  • Environment
    Environment Improving stewardship and sustainable management of Australia’s environment.
    • Bushfire recovery
    • Climate change and the environment
    • Biodiversity
    • EPBC Act
    • Environmental information and data
    • International activities
    • Invasive species
    • Land
    • Marine
    • Partnerships
    • Protection
    • Report a breach of environment law
    • Threatened species & ecological communities
    • Waste and recycling
    • Wildlife trade
    Decorative image

    Read our Nature Positive Plan

    Our plan sets out the Australian Government’s commitment to environmental law reform

    Find out more

  • Water
    Water Improving the sustainable management of Australia’s water supply for industry, the environment and communities.
    • Coal, Coal seam gas (CSG) and water
    • Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder
    • Water policy and resources
    • Wetlands
    Water matters

    Water Matters

    Keep up with the latest news on the department's work in managing Australia's water resources.

    Read the latest edition here

  • Parks and heritage
    Parks and heritage Managing Australia’s iconic national parks, historic places and living landscapes.
    • Australian Marine Parks
    • Australian National Botanic Gardens
    • Booderee National Park
    • Kakadu National Park
    • Christmas Island National Park
    • National parks
    • Norfolk Island National Park
    • Heritage
    • Pulu Keeling National Park
    • The Great Barrier Reef
    • Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park
    The reef

    Great Barrier Reef

    Australia is protecting and conserving this World Heritage Area.

    Find out more

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Climate change
    • Australia's biological resources
    • National Environmental Science Program (NESP)
    • Office of the Science Convenor
    • Australian Biological Resource Study (ABRS)
    • State of the Environment (SoE) reporting
    • Bird and bat banding
    • Supervising Scientist
    Our climate is changing

    Our climate is changing

    Find out more about how climate science helps Australians with the impacts of climate change.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us We lead Australia’s response to climate change and sustainable energy use, and protect our environment, heritage and water.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • People and jobs
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    Decorative image

    Juukan Gorge response

    Read the Australian Government's response to the destruction at Juukan Gorge and the recommendations

    Read the response

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Climate Change, Energy, Enviroment and Water

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Environment
  3. Environment protection
  4. Waste and recycling
  5. Waste publications and data
  6. Waste Reports, Data and Tools
  7. National Waste Report 2013 - Introduction
  8. National waste generation and resource recovery

Sidebar first - EN - Protection

  • National Waste Report 2013
    • International obligations
    • Policies and governance
    • National data
    • National waste streams
    • State and territory data
    • Organic waste
    • Hazardous waste
    • Industry
    • Infrastructure
    • Community operations
    • Product stewardship
    • Mapping Tool
    • Data workbooks
    • Downloads
    • Frequently asked questions

National waste generation and resource recovery

National Waste Report 2013 « Previous » Next
This section provides an overview of national waste generation and resource recovery profiles and trends.

More detailed information is available in the fact sheet below.

Fact sheet

Fact sheet - Australian Context (PDF - 208.19 KB)
Fact sheet - Australian Context (DOCX - 331.13 KB)

Overview

Key fact: Over the period 2006–07 to 2010–11, the resource recovery rate in Australia increased nine per cent - from 51 per cent to 60 per cent.

2010–11 waste generation1

In 2010–11 Australians on average generated 2.2 tonnes per capita of waste, 60 per cent of which was recycled or recovered for embodied energy. Inclusion of fly ash from coal fired power stations increases the average per capita waste generation by 28 per cent to 2.8 tonnes, with a resource recovery rate of 56 per cent. In total, Australians generated around 48 million tonnes (Mt) of waste excluding fly ash, and 62 Mt including fly ash (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Australia total waste generation by management, 2010–11

Figure 1
 

Figure 2 illustrates the waste generation total for each jurisdiction, showing the tonnages by management and the recovery rates.

Figure 2 Australia waste generation by management by jurisdiction, 2010–11

Figure 2
 

Australian per capita trends, 2006–07 to 2010–11

Between 2006–07 and 2010–11:

  • Waste generation per capita in Australia was reasonably stable at around 2.1 tonnes per capita per year, with a small increase of 2.6 per cent over the period, or 0.6 per cent per year
  • The resource recovery rate in Australia increased from 51 per cent to 60 per cent (excluding fly ash)
  • Waste recycling per capita in Australia rose by around 20 per cent over the period, or 4.6 per cent per year.
  • Material used for producing energy from waste in Australia increased marginally from 60 kg to 70 kg per capita per year, or 8 per cent over the period, or 2.0 per cent per year.
  • Waste disposal in Australia decreased, falling from around 1.03 tonnes to around 0.88 tonnes per capita per year, representing a fall of around 15 per cent in four years, or 4.0 per cent per capita per year.

Figure 3 below shows per capita waste generation and management trends for the period 2006–07 to 2010–11.

Figure 3 Trends in per capita waste generation and management, 2006–07 to 2010–11

Figure 3
 

Note: Relies on: population-based backwards extrapolation for NT (06-07 – 09-10) and Qld (06-07); and interpolation for all jurisdictions (07-08) and NSW (09-10).

Australian total waste generation trends, 2006–07 to 2010–11

Between 2006–07 and 2010–11:

  • Australia continued to generate more waste as the population grew, with waste generation increasing from around 44 Mt to around 48 Mt per year, an increase of 9.1 per cent over in four years, or 2.2 per cent per year.
  • The total quantity of material recycled in Australia increased significantly from 21.4 Mt to 27.3 Mt per year, or by about 27 per cent in four years, or 6.3 per cent per year
  • Australia’s total energy recovery increased from about 1.32 Mt to 1.52 Mt per year, or by about 15 per cent over four years, or 3.6 per cent per year
  • Australia’s total disposal tonnage decreased from about 21.5 Mt to about 19.5 Mt per year, or by about 9 per cent over four years, or 2.5 per cent per year
  • The resource recovery rate in Australia increased from 51 per cent to 60 per cent between 2006–07 and 2010–11, an increase of 9 per cent.

Figure 4 below shows total waste generation and management trends for the period 2006–07 to 2010–11

Figure 4 Trends in total waste generation and management, 2006–07 to 2010–11

Figure 4
 

Relies on: population-based backwards extrapolation for NT (06-07 – 09-10) and Qld (06-07); and interpolation for all jurisdictions (07-08) and NSW (09-10).

For more information on:

  • per capita waste generation see the overview on state and territory waste generation and resource recovery data, the factsheets on jurisdictional waste profiles or Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia
  • national waste generation and resource recovery profiles and trends see Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia.

     

Download

Download this overview as a PDF file:

  • Overview - National waste generation and resource recovery profile and trends (PDF - 110.19 KB)
  • More downloads

About the data

Unless otherwise specified, waste generation and resource recovery data for this overview were sourced from Blue Environment and Randell Environmental Consulting’s Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia (2013). It is important to note that the data (from this report) will not always reconcile with publicly reported data from the states and territories. The differences in data result from differences in scope, method of compilation, and assumptions used in Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia. The workbooks provide transparency so that differences between the reported data sets can be reconciled if necessary.

The headline figures are based on hazardous waste data from Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia (2013). Additional sources on hazardous waste data indicate that hazardous waste generation in Australia for 2010–11 has been under-reported in this report. The Hazardous Waste Data Assessment is the current best estimate of hazardous waste generation, recovery and disposal available in Australia. It includes key amounts of hazardous waste (such as hazardous wastes that do not move across borders, liquid hazardous wastes, and hazardous wastes not reported in Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia). For more discussion see the overview on hazardous waste or the Hazardous Waste Data Assessment.


1 The content for this overview has been drawn from Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia (WGRRiA), 2013. Additional sources on hazardous waste data indicate that hazardous waste generation in Australia for 2010–11 has been under‑reported in WGRRiA data. The hazardous waste overview shows higher  hazardous waste generation in Australia of approximately 6.16 million tonnes in 2010–11, which suggests that overall waste generation is higher than shown here. More information on hazardous waste in Australia is provided in the hazardous waste overview and the Hazardous Waste Data Assessment.

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI
Last updated: 03 October 2021

© Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.