Environment Agency - Home

Industrial and Commercial Waste Arisings in Wales 2007

Read the findings of the survey and the full report

The survey of industrial and commercial (I&C) waste arisings in Wales for 2007 calendar year was carried out by Urban Mines, managed by Environment Agency Wales and on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government that funded the project.

Data was collected from around 1,500 business sites between August 2008 and January 2009 throughout Wales, of differing sector and size, and the data was grossed-up using population data to regional & national level in Wales.  Office for National Statistics data showed that there was around 71,400 business sites in Wales in 2007 with 8% in industrial sectors and 92% in commerce; 60% of these companies had less than 4 employees and 2% had more than 100 employees. 

Main findings

Welsh industrial and commercial sectors generated an estimated 3.6 million tonnes of waste, split 53%:47% between industrial and commercial businesses

In addition, 1.8 million tonnes of “non-wastes” were produced, specifically blast furnace slag and virgin timber.

Type of waste

The most significant type of I&C waste was mixed wastes (31.3%%) followed by non-metals (24.2%) mineral wastes (16.6%), and animal and vegetable wastes (11.2%).

Hazardous Wastes

The survey estimated a total of 259,740 tonnes of hazardous wastes generated in Wales i.e. 7.3% of waste arisings (excluding non-wastes), split approximately 42% from industrial businesses, 58% from commercial businesses. Main waste types included chemical wastes, mixed ordinary wastes and mineral wastes.

How waste was managed

Excluding non-wastes, 1.4 million tonnes (38%) was recycled with a further 348,000 tonnes (9.7%) re-used, 51,000 tonnes 1.4% composted, 50,000 (1.4%) by thermal treatment and  1.4 million tonnes (39.1%) disposed of via landfill.

A significantly lower proportion of industrial waste (excluding non-wastes) was sent to landfill (29.0%) compared to commercial waste (50.5%).  Also, more industrial waste was recycled, re-used, composted and land recovered (63.2%) compared to only 37.5% for commercial waste.  

Find out more