Environment at a Glance Indicators

Circular economy - waste and materials

Context

Material resources form the physical foundation of the economy. Their physical and chemical characteristics, abundance and value vary across countries. Economic growth typically drives higher demand for raw materials, energy and other natural resources, leading to a range of environmental impacts if not properly managed.

The extraction, production and consumption of raw materials have far-reaching environmental, economic and social impacts, both within and beyond national borders. The extent of these impacts depends on the type and quantity of resources and materials used, where they are in their life cycle and how they are managed. Key concerns include pressures on natural assets, pollution from material use and harm to human health and ecosystems due to poor waste management. These impacts range from soil and water pollution, air quality, climate change and degradation of natural habitats and ecosystems.

Policy challenges

The main challenge is to improve resource efficiency and productivity at all stages of materials lifecycle, extraction, transport, manufacturing, consumption, recovery and disposal. This requires:

• Broadening the scope of waste management policies in line with the waste hierarchy, prioritising prevention through eco-design, reuse, repair, refurbishment, re-manufacturing, and extended producer responsibility schemes (see The waste hierarchy).

• Integrating policies on materials, product and chemicals management, using a life-cycle approach. Examples include implementing 3R policies (reduce, reuse, recycle), sustainable materials management, sustainable manufacturing, and circular economy strategies.

Transitioning to a resource efficient and circular economy is critical for ensuring material supply security, reducing environmental impacts and supporting long-term economic competitiveness.

A circular economy seeks to:

• maximise the value of the materials circulating in the economy;

• minimise material use, paying particular attention to virgin materials, hazardous substances, and waste streams that raise specific concerns (plastics, food, electrics);

• prevent waste generation;

• reduce the hazardous content of waste and products.

The waste hierarchy

Source: OECD based on various other sources.

Measuring progress and performance

Environmental performance can be assessed against domestic objectives and international goals and commitments. Sustainable waste and materials management is part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (New York, September 2015) under Goal 8 “Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all”, Goal 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” and Goal 14 “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Absolute decoupling of materials uses and environmental degradation from GDP growth is targeted in SDG 8.4. The sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources is targeted in SDG 12.2. The prevention and reduction of marine pollution, including marine debris is targeted in SDG 14.1.

Agreements and regulations on waste in general and transboundary movements of hazardous waste in particular, include directives of the European Union, OECD Decisions and Recommendations and the Basel Convention that was amended in 2019 for plastic waste and in 2022 for electrical and electronic waste. G8 and G7 countries further adopted several plans and strategies related to the resource cycle, resource productivity and life-cycle based materials management. Resource efficiency was part of the G20 agenda in 2017.

Indicator groups

• Waste management: total waste generation and intensities; municipal waste generation, intensities, recovery, recycling and disposal shares; electrical and electronic equipment put on the market, e-waste generated and collected intensities, plastic and ferrous-metal waste generated.

• Use of material resources: material consumption mix and intensities, material productivity and material footprint intensities.

• Taxes relevant for circular economy: revenue raised and tax base structure.

Waste management

Key messages

• Most OECD countries continue to produce increasing amounts of waste; only a few have decoupled total waste generation from population and economic growth.

• In 2023, municipal solid waste in OECD countries exceeded 770 million tonnes, equivalent to about 552 kg per person; this is 55 kg more than in 1990 and 39 kg more than in 2015. On average, Europeans produce less municipal waste than people living in the Americas, but more than those in the OECD Asia-Oceania region.

• Recycling (24%) and composting (11%) of municipal waste are increasing, but landfilling (40%) remains the primary disposal method in many OECD countries.

• Electrical and electronic equipment per person and related e-waste have been rapidly increasing in almost all OECD countries over the past decade. Only a fraction of e-waste is collected or recycled.

• Plastic and ferrous waste generated per person has increased considerably in most OECD countries over the past 10 years. Limited information is available on the management of these waste streams.

Main trends and recent developments

Across most OECD countries, total waste generation continues to increase, in line with population and economic growth. Only a few countries, such as Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands and Spain have achieved relative decoupling of their total waste generation from economic growth. The amounts of waste produced, their composition and their origin vary among countries due to economic structures and levels of investment in innovation and cleaner technologies.

In 2023, municipal solid waste generated in OECD countries exceeded 770 million tonnes. During the 1990s, municipal solid waste generated in OECD countries has risen mostly in line with private consumption expenditure and GDP. This rise slowed between 2007 and 2015 but has accelerated again since then.

A person living in an OECD country generated on average 552 kg of municipal waste in 2023; this is 55 kg more than in 1990 and 39 kg more than in 2015. On average, Europeans generate less waste than people living in the Americas, but more than those living in the OECD Asia-Oceania region. It is estimated that, about 2.1 billion tonnes of municipal waste were generated in 2023 worldwide (about 270 kg per person) and that without further action this number will grow to 3.8 billion by 2050 (UNEP, 2024).

Municipal waste generation varies widely across OECD countries; this is due to factors like levels and patterns of consumption, urbanisation, income, lifestyles, and national waste management practices. More waste is being diverted from landfills and incinerators and fed back into the economy through recovery and recycling. Mechanical and biological pre-treatment is increasingly used to facilitate recovery, enhance incineration efficiency, and reduce landfill use. Manufacturers and importers are increasingly encouraged or required to accept responsibility for their products after the point of sale, through “extended producer responsibility” or “product stewardship”. The European Union, Japan and other countries have introduced recycling targets and monitor progress through indicators.

The share of municipal solid waste landfilled in OECD countries has decreased from about 53% in 2010 to 40% in 2023, with some countries no longer using landfills (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland). Yet landfilling remains the main waste disposal method in others, particularly in the OECD America region.

Recycling, composting and energy recovery through incineration have all increased since 2000 most OECD countries. Several countries now recycle more than one third of the municipal waste they manage (Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Korea, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia).

Waste from electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams and poses both health and environment challenges. The amounts of electrical and electronic equipment put on the market has grown over the past decade, but only a fraction of the resulting e-waste is collected. For example, while 32 kg/person of electrical and electronic equipment were put on the market in 2022 in the European Union, only 11 kg/person of e-waste were collected. Rates of recycling for individual countries vary between 67% and nearly 100% of the e-waste collected per person. It is estimated that worldwide only 22% of e-waste generated in 2022 was properly collected and recycled. Moreover, since 2010 e-waste generation has risen exponentially, growing five times faster than documented e-waste recycling (ITU, 2024).

Plastic and ferrous waste generated per person has increased considerably in most OECD countries since 2010. Amounts generated per person vary from 10kg per person in Chile to 557kg in Belgium for ferrous waste and from 3kg per person in Chile to 113kg in Australia for plastic waste. Little information is available on the management of these waste streams. In Europe, the recycling rate for plastic waste reached approximately 41% in 2021. Despite this progress, a significant portion of plastic waste continues to be landfilled or incinerated, contributing to environmental degradation. It is estimated that in 2019 alone, around 22 million tonnes of plastic leaked into soils, rivers, and oceans. Plastic leakage is projected to double by 2060 (EP, 2024).

Indicators

Comparability and interpretation

Waste is generated at all stages of human activities. Its composition and amounts depend largely on consumption and production patterns. Data on waste are available for most OECD countries, but their quality varies significantly across countries.

Municipal solid waste comprises only a small share of total waste generated (about 10%), but its management and treatment often represent more than one-third of public sector financial efforts to abate and control pollution.

The definition of municipal waste, the types of waste covered, and the surveying methods used to collect information vary from country to country and over time. The main problems in terms of data comparability relate to the coverage of household-like waste from commerce and trade, and of separate waste collections that may include hazardous waste from households such as waste batteries or waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) and waste collected by the private sector in the framework of extended producer responsibility schemes.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to all items of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and its parts that have been disposed of. E-waste is also referred to as WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), electronic waste or e-scrap in different regions and under varying circumstances in the world. E-waste includes a wide range of products - almost any household or business item with circuitry or electrical components with power or battery supply.

For further details see the metadata in the source databases.

Use of material resources

Key messages

• Material productivity in OECD countries has generally improved and per person consumption of materials has declined or stabilised in recent years, in many cases. However, OECD countries still use more materials per person than other world regions.

• Productivity gains appear more limited once indirect flows of materials needed to satisfy final demand are considered. The material footprint per person, including materials extracted abroad and embodied in international trade, has grown in many OECD countries, although it has stabilised in recent years.

Main trends and recent developments

The amounts of materials consumed in OECD countries, in terms of domestic material consumption (DMC), and their per person levels increased along with economic growth in the 1990s, decreased after the 2008-09 economic crisis and remained relatively stable since. Material consumption in OECD countries is about 24 Gt per year; more than half of this amount is consumed in the OECD America region. The material mix is dominated by non-metallic minerals, mostly for construction, followed by fossil energy carriers and biomass; metals represent less than 15% of the total on average.

DMC per person decreased in slightly more than half of OECD countries since 2000. In some countries, such as the Baltic countries, per person material consumption increased driven by economic growth and infrastructure development associated with a declining population. Overall, the levels of material consumption per person remain higher in OECD countries (about 17.5 tonnes per person per year) compared to other world regions. However, in the coming decades growing populations with higher incomes and living standards will drive a strong increase in global demand for goods and services. Material consumption per person in emerging and developing economies is thus expected to grow faster than in the OECD region.

Since 2000, almost all OECD countries have experienced improvements in material productivity (expressed as the amount of economic value generated per unit of materials used). OECD countries generated USD 2.9 per kg of materials consumed in 2023, compared to USD 2 per kg in 2000 (USD in 2020 constant PPP). This reflects efficiency gains in production processes, changes in the materials composition and substitution of domestic production with imports. Notably, DMC fell after the 2008 financial crisis and has remained relatively stable since, despite resumed economic growth.

However, when accounting for all materials needed to satisfy final demand in OECD countries, i.e. including materials extracted abroad and embodied in imported goods (i.e. a demand-based measure), gains are more modest. The per person material footprint, is generally higher than DMC per person. Countries with high import rates and high income levels show higher material footprints.

Indicators

Comparability and interpretation

The indicators presented are estimates. Their interpretation should take into account the properties and composition of material groups (materials are measured in weight), as well as countries’ endowments in natural resources and the structure of their economy. It should also consider commodity prices, waste management practices and consumption levels and patterns.

The data presented here refer to the mass of materials or substances produced from renewable and non-renewable natural resource stocks, used as inputs into human activities, and the products that embody them. Data coverage and completeness vary by variable and by country. In general, caution needs to be exercised when drawing conclusions based on country-level data. Although considerable progress has been made in the past decade to set up material flow accounts, missing information, including on physical flows of international trade and on secondary (recycled) raw materials, and a lack of consensus on conversion factors limit the calculation of some material flow indicators at the international level.

For further details see the metadata in the source databases.

Taxes relevant for the circular economy

Key messages

• In 2023, circular economy-related taxes generated USD 152 billion across OECD countries, representing 0.9% of total tax revenue, compared to 1.0% in the early 2000s.

• Most of this revenue came from transport taxes, while pollution, resource and energy taxes make up only a marginal contribution to circular economy objectives.

Main trends and recent developments

In OECD countries, circular economy-related taxes raised USD 152 billion in 2023, representing 0.9% of total tax revenue, compared to 1.0% in the early 2000s. As a share of environmentally related tax revenue, transport taxes accounted for the majority (20.2%), while pollution taxes contributed only 0.7%. Resource taxes represented 0.1%, and energy taxes remained absent as a revenue source.

Indicators

Comparability and interpretation

To assess the “environmental friendliness” of tax systems, indicators on environmentally related taxes should be complemented with information describing the economic and taxation structure of each country. Moreover, some environmentally related taxes can have important environmental impacts even if they raise little (or no) revenue. In addition, revenue from fees and charges, and from royalties related to resource management, is not included.

Comparisons of ERTRs in OECD countries provide a useful starting point for analysing the impact of environmental taxation, however, comparing only the level of revenue does not provide the full picture of a country’s environmental policy, as it does not provide information on the levels of tax rates, or the exemptions applied. Other parts of the OECD PINE database, including information on tax rates and exemptions, allows deeper assessment of the environmental impacts of these taxes. In addition, governments may choose to implement environmental policy using a range of other instruments, including fees and charges, expenditures (both direct and subsidies) and regulation, some of which are also detailed in the PINE database. The database also includes for information on the use of alternative instruments in countries.

For further details see the metadata in the source databases.

Glossary

Circular economy-related tax revenue refers to revenue generated from market-based instruments, such as taxes and tradable permits, which aims maximise resource efficiency while reducing waste generation and environmental pollution of the production and consumption of material goods. Examples include landfill levies, tire taxes, taxes on plastics materials, excise taxes on motor vehicles, and trading schemes for landfill allowances.

The information on taxes and the associated tax revenue is extracted from the OECD Policy Instruments for the Environment (PINE) database. The PINE database contains quantitative and qualitative information on over 4600 policy instruments in more than 145 countries worldwide. Policy instruments are tagged into 22 environmental domains that represent the focal issues (environmental externalities). Instruments can have both a direct and an indirect effect on several environmental domains; however, only the domain to which the instrument has a direct effect is considered. For more details, see the methodology for Environmental domain tagging the OECD PINE database.

Domestic material consumption: Refers to the amount of materials directly used in an economy, or the apparent consumption of materials. DMC is computed as domestic extraction used minus exports plus imports.

Domestic material consumption mix: DMC of non-metallic minerals includes domestic extraction and trade of minerals used in industry and construction, plus trade of derived processed products; biomass includes domestic production from agriculture, forestry and fisheries, plus trade of raw and processed products from these sectors; fossil fuels include coal, crude oil, natural gas, peat and traded-derived products; and metals include domestic extraction of metal ores, plus trade of metal ores, metal concentrates, refined metals, products mainly made of metals, and scrap.

E-waste: Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to all items of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and its parts that have been disposed of. E-waste is also referred to as WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), electronic waste or e-scrap in different regions and under different circumstances in the world. It includes a wide range of products - almost any household or business item with circuitry or electrical components with power or battery supply. The definition of e-waste is very broad and covers six waste categories: (1) Temperature exchange equipment; (2) Screen, monitors; (3) Lamps; (4) Large equipment; (5) Small equipment; (6) Small IT and telecommunication equipment.

Material footprint per person: Expressed in tonnes per person; the material footprint is the global allocation of used raw material extracted to meet the final demand of an economy, thus including raw materials used in the production of imported products.

Material productivity: Expressed in USD/kg; material productivity is the effectiveness with which an economy uses materials extracted from natural resources (physical inputs) to generate economic value (monetary outputs).

Municipal waste: Waste collected by or on behalf of municipalities. It includes household waste originating from households (i.e. waste generated by the domestic activity of households) and similar waste from small commercial activities, office buildings, institutions such as schools and government buildings, and small businesses that treat or dispose of waste at the same facilities used for municipally collected waste.

Municipal waste recovery rates: percentage of waste that is recuperated via recycling, composting or incineration with energy recuperation.

Municipal waste disposal rates: percentage of waste that is sent to final disposal (landfill or incineration without energy recovery).

Total waste generated: Primary waste (i.e. excluding residues from treatment operations) produced by the various sectors of economic activity (agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing industry, energy production, water purification and distribution, construction, etc.).

Data sources

Eurostat, “Material flow accounts”, Eurostat Material flows and resource productivity (database), https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/env_ac_mfa?category=env.env_mrp.

Eurostat, “Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) by waste management operations”, Eurostat Waste (database), https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/page/env_waselee?lang=en.

OECD, "Environmental policy: Environmentally related tax revenue", OECD Environment Statistics (database), https://doi.org/10.1787/df563d69-en

OECD, “Material flow accounts”, OECD Environment Statistics (database), https://doi.org/10.1787/data-00695-en.

OECD, “Policy Instruments for the Environment (PINE)” (database), http://oe.cd/pinedatabase.

OECD, "Waste - Municipal waste: generation and treatment", OECD Environment Statistics (database), https://doi.org/10.1787/data-00601-en.

OECD, "Waste - Waste by sector: generation, recovery and recycling", OECD Environment Statistics (database), https://doi.org/10.1787/data-00674-en.

OECD, "Waste - Electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste or WEEE)", OECD Environment Statistics (e-waste database).

OECD, "Waste: Selected waste streams: generation, recovery and recycling", OECD Environment Statistics (waste streams database).

References and further reading

Chhun, B., et al. (2024), "Environmental domain tagging in the OECD PINE database", OECD Environment Working Papers, No. 232, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/be984b0a-en.

ITU, UNU, UNITAR, ISWA (2024). The Global E-waste Monitor – 2024, United Nations University (UNU), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) & International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Bonn/Geneva/Vienna, https://ewastemonitor.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GEM_2024_18-03_web_page_per_page_web.pdf.

European Parliament (2024), Plastic waste and recycling in the EU: facts and figures https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20181212STO21610/plastic-waste-and-recycling-in-the-eu-facts-and-figures.

OECD Data Explorer, Environment datasets

OECD, Global Material Resources Outlook to 2060: Economic Drivers and Environmental Consequences, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264307452-en.

UNEP (2024), Global Waste Management Outlook 2024, https://www.unep.org/resources/global-waste-management-outlook-2024.

UNEP (2024), Global Resource Outlook 2024, https://www.unep.org/resources/Global-Resource-Outlook-2024.