Archive:Waste and materials recovery statistics - NACE Rev. 2
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This article presents an overview of statistics for the waste and materials recovery sector in the European Union (EU), as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 38.
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(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
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(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_ind_r2)
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Main statistical findings
Structural profile
The EU-27’s waste and materials recovery (Division 38) sector comprised 41 thousand enterprises in 2010, around 0.2 % of the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) enterprise population. These enterprises employed 795 thousand persons, equivalent to 0.6 % of the total number of persons employed in the non-financial business economy and nearly three fifths (59.8 %) of the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (Section E) workforce. The value added of the EU-27’s waste and materials recovery sector reached EUR 41.6 billion in 2010, which was 0.7 % of the non-financial business economy total and close to half (48.2 %) of the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities total.
The waste and materials recovery sector’s apparent labour productivity was EUR 52.4 thousand per person employed in the EU-27 in 2010, distinctly higher than the non-financial business economy average (EUR 44.8 thousand per person employed), but at the same time well below the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities average (EUR 64.9 thousand per person employed). Nevertheless, average personnel costs within the EU-27’s waste and materials recovery sector were EUR 31.1 thousand per employee, in line with the EUR 30.9 thousand per employee average for the whole of the non-financial business economy and the EUR 31.8 thousand per employee average for water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities. The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio combines the two previous indicators and shows the extent to which value added per person employed covers average personnel costs per employee: as a consequence of the typical level of average personnel costs in the EU-27’s waste and materials recovery sector in 2010 this ratio was most influenced by the relatively high level of apparent labour productivity. The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the EU-27’s waste and materials recovery sector was 168.4 % in 2010, between the non-financial business economy average of 144.8 % and the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities average of 200.0 %. In a similar manner, the 13.5 % ratio of gross operating surplus to turnover (known as the gross operating rate) for the EU-27’s waste and materials recovery sector in 2010 was above the non-financial business economy average (10.1 %) but below the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities average (20.6 %).
Sectoral analysis
In terms of its number of enterprises, the EU-27’s materials recovery subsector (Group 38.3) was the largest of the three subsectors that form the waste and materials recovery sector, with 18.7 thousand enterprises in 2010. This was followed by waste collection (Group 38.1) with 16.5 thousand enterprises, while waste treatment and disposal (Group 38.2) had by far the smallest enterprise population (5.8 thousand). However, based on employment or value added the largest subsector by far was waste collection, while the materials recovery subsector was slightly smaller than waste treatment and disposal — see Figure 1.
The relatively high apparent labour productivity figure for the whole of the EU-27’s waste and materials recovery sector in 2010 was pulled upwards by the waste treatment and disposal subsector where an average of EUR 69.2 thousand of value was added per person employed. For the two other subsectors, apparent labour productivity was lower, particularly for waste collection where an average of EUR 42.4 thousand per person employed (2009 data) was observed, which was, nevertheless, slightly above the non-financial business economy average (EUR 40.5 thousand per person employed in 2009). The range in average personnel costs per employee was less broad, from EUR 29.0 thousand for waste collection (2009 data) to EUR 35.5 thousand for waste treatment and disposal.
Relatively high apparent labour productivity for the EU-27’s waste treatment and disposal subsector boosted its wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio to 195 % in 2010, while within the materials recovery subsector, the low level of average personnel costs pushed the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio to 200 %. For the waste collection subsector, the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio was 146.2 % in 2009, also above the non-financial business economy average (134.2 %). In terms of profitability (based on the gross operating rate), the waste treatment and disposal subsector also had the highest value (19.7 %). For the other two subsectors the latest EU-27 data is for 2009, when the materials recovery subsector recorded a rate of 8.1 % and the waste collection subsector a rate of 13.1 %, either side of the non-financial business economy average (9.8 %).
Country analysis
Among the EU Member States, the largest workforce in the waste and materials recovery sector in 2010 was in Italy (135.4 thousand persons), equivalent to 17.0 % of the EU-27 total. Double-digit shares of the EU-27 workforce were also recorded in Germany (13.4 %), the United Kingdom (12.9 %) and France (11.9 %). In employment terms, Romania was the most specialised of the Member States in the waste and materials recovery sector, as 1.2 % of the Romanian non-financial business economy workforce were employed in this sector in 2010. The Czech Republic and Italy were also relatively highly specialised in employment terms, as in both of these Member States 0.9 % of the non-financial business economy workforce were employed in the waste and materials recovery sector; this was also the case in Croatia. Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark and Finland were the least specialised Member States in employment terms with just 0.4 % of their non-financial business economy workforce employed in this sector; Switzerland (0.3 %) was even less specialised in employment terms.
Based on an analysis of value added, Italy was the biggest producer among the EU Member State (note that no data is available for Germany) in the waste and materials recovery sector in 2010. Italy was also the most specialised country, with 1.2 % of the value added in the Italian non-financial business economy being generated by the waste and materials recovery sector. Both Romania and Slovenia were also relatively specialised in the waste and materials recovery sector as it contributed 1.0 % of their non-financial business economy value added, as it did in Croatia.
A different EU Member State was the largest producer in each of the three subsectors in both employment and value added terms in 2010 (as noted above there is no German value added data available). Italy had the largest waste collection subsector in terms of employment and value added. For the waste treatment and disposal subsector France had the highest value added, although both Germany and Spain had larger workforces (no data available for the United Kingdom). By contrast, the United Kingdom had the highest level of value added for the materials recovery subsector, where France had the largest workforce (again no data available for the United Kingdom).
Most of the EU Member States recorded a higher wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the waste and materials recovery sector in 2010 than they did for their non-financial business economy as a whole. The exceptions to this pattern were Ireland and Luxembourg, as well as Norway. A similar situation was observed for the gross operating rate, with Ireland and Romania the only EU Member States recording rates for waste and materials recovery that were below national non-financial business economy averages, as did Norway. Slovakia recorded a gross operating rate above 20.0 %, as did Croatia, while the rates in Romania and France were below 10.0 %.
Size class analysis
The enterprise size structure of the EU-27’s waste and materials recovery sector was relatively similar regardless of whether the analysis is based on employment or value added. Large enterprises (employing 250 or more persons) contributed two fifths of the sectoral total, medium-sized enterprises (employing 50 to 249 persons) three tenths, small enterprises (employing 10 to 49 persons) one fifth and micro enterprises (employing fewer than 10 persons) just under one tenth.
Large enterprises provided more than half of the waste and materials recovery sector’s workforce in Spain and the United Kingdom, while in Lithuania medium-sized enterprises employed the majority of the workforce. In all of the other Member States for which data are available (see Table 6a) none of the four size classes employed more than half of the workforce.
Data sources and availability
The analysis presented in this article is based on the main dataset for structural business statistics (SBS) and size class data, all of which are published annually.
The main series provides information for each EU Member State as well as a number of non-member countries at a detailed level according to the activity classification NACE. Data are available for a wide range of variables.
In structural business statistics, size classes are generally defined by the number of persons employed. A limited set of the standard structural business statistics variables (for example, the number of enterprises, turnover, persons employed and value added) are analysed by size class, mostly down to the three-digit (group) level of NACE. The main size classes used in this article for presenting the results are:
- small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): with 1 to 249 persons employed, further divided into;
- micro enterprises: with less than 10 persons employed;
- small enterprises: with 10 to 49 persons employed;
- medium-sized enterprises: with 50 to 249 persons employed;
- large enterprises: with 250 or more persons employed.
Context
This article presents an overview of statistics for the waste and materials recovery sector in the EU, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 38. This division includes the collection, treatment, and disposal of waste materials, including the operation of materials recovery facilities (in other words, those that sort recoverable materials from a waste stream). Both hazardous and non-hazardous waste are covered: the former includes explosive, oxidising, flammable, toxic, irritant, harmful, carcinogenic, corrosive, infectious or other substances and preparations harmful for human health and the environment.
Waste collection includes the collection from households, businesses and public places of waste. Its collection may also entail identification, treatment, packaging and labelling of waste for the purposes of transport. The operation of waste transfer facilities is also included.
Waste treatment concerns treatment of waste prior to its disposal. Disposal includes dumping of refuse on land or in water, burial or ploughing-under of refuse, incineration or combustion; it also includes storage of radioactive nuclear waste. Energy recovery resulting from the waste incineration process is also included.
Materials recovery includes the dismantling of all types of wrecks (automobiles, ships, computers, televisions and other equipment) for materials recovery (rather than to remove reusable parts) and the recovery of sorted materials. Recovery of sorted materials involves the processing of metal and non-metal waste and scrap and articles into secondary raw materials. The recovery of materials from waste streams is also included in the form of: separating and sorting recoverable materials from non-hazardous waste streams (in other words, general rubbish); separating and sorting of commingled recoverable materials, such as paper, plastics, used beverage cans and metals, into distinct categories. Examples of the mechanical or chemical transformation processes that are undertaken include: mechanical crushing, mechanical reduction, shredding, cutting, pressing, pellet production, cleaning, melting, grinding and composting.
This NACE division is composed of three groups:
- waste collection (Group 38.1);
- waste treatment and disposal (Group 38.2);
- materials recovery (Group 38.3).
The information presented in this article excludes the treatment and disposal of waste water, as covered by water collection, treatment and supply (Division 36) and sewerage (Division 37) as well as the remediation and clean-up of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil and ground water, for example, through asbestos removal (as covered by remediation and other waste management services, Division 39).
See also
- Other analyses of the business economy by NACE Rev. 2 sector
- Structural business statistics introduced
- Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- European business - facts and figures (online publication)
- Key figures on European Business – with a special feature section on SMEs – 2011 edition
Main tables
Database
- SBS - industry and construction (sbs_ind_co)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics - industry and construction (sbs_na_ind)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics for industry (NACE Rev. 2 B-E) (sbs_na_ind_r2)
- SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics by size class - industry and construction (sbs_sc_ind)
- Industry by employment size class (NACE Rev. 2 B-E) (sbs_sc_ind_r2)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics - industry and construction (sbs_na_ind)
- SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)
- SBS data by NUTS 2 regions and NACE Rev. 2 (from 2008 onwards) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)
Dedicated section
Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)
Other information
- Decision 1578/2007/EC of 11 December 2007 on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012
- Regulation 295/2008 of 11 March 2008 concerning structural business statistics