Waste generation by industry and households
In 2016-17, the Australian economy generated or imported 68.9 megatonnes of waste, of which the largest contributors were:
- Construction (20.4 megatonnes, 29.6%)
- Households (13.8 megatonnes, 20.0%)
- Electricity, gas, water and waste services (12.7 megatonnes, 18.4%)
- Manufacturing (10.8 megatonnes, 15.6%).
Waste intensity by industry
Of the industries highlighted in the account, those with the highest waste intensity (waste generated (tonnes) divided by gross value added ($ million)) were:
- Electricity, gas, water and waste services 291.0 t/$m
- Construction 151.8 t/$m
- Manufacturing 105.6 t/$m.
Waste generation for the Electricity, gas, water and waste services industry included 12.3 megatonnes of ash from coal-fired power plants which is the main driver of the industry's high waste intensity score (figure 1).
- Waste intensity is "GVA" divided by "total waste generation" for a given industry.
Largest waste categories
In 2016-17, the Australian economy generated or imported 68.9 megatonnes of waste, of which:
- 17.1 megatonnes (24.9%) was masonry materials
- 15.1 megatonnes (21.9%) was organics
- 12.3 megatonnes (17.9%) was ash from coal-fired power stations
- 6.6 megatonnes (9.5%) was metals
- 6.4 megatonnes (9.3%) was hazardous waste
- 5.6 megatonnes (8.1%) was paper & cardboard
- 2.6 megatonnes (3.7%) was plastic.
The largest supplier of masonry material waste was the Construction industry with 15.0 megatonnes. This represents 73.8% of Construction industry waste (figure 2).
- Includes non-hazardous foundry sands.
The largest supplier of organic waste was Households, with 7.0 megatonnes. This represents 51.0% of Household waste (figure 3).
Australian households generated 45.6% (1.2 megatonnes) of all plastic waste generated across the economy (figure 4), of which, the largest plastic types were:
- polyethylene terephthalate (PET), 419,383 tonnes (35.9%)
- high density polyethylene (HDPE), 337,544 tonnes (32.3%)
- ‘other plastics’, 267,925 tonnes (22.9%).
The Australian economy domestically generated 465,818 tonnes of e-waste (figure 5), of which:
- 369,084 tonnes (79.2%) was generated by households
- 253,507 tonnes (54.4%) went to landfill
- 212,311 tonnes (45.6%) was collected for recycling.
Waste fates
In 2016-17, the Australian economy generated or imported 68.9 megatonnes of waste, of which:
- 19.0 megatonnes was sent to landfill for disposal, constituting 27.6% of total waste generation
- 37.5 megatonnes of waste was recovered (i.e. exported, or collected for recycling or energy recovery) by the Waste collection, treatment & disposal services industry, of which:
- 4.1 megatonnes (11.1%) was exported for recycling
- 1.9 megatonnes (5.1%) was recovered for energy production
- 31.4 megatonnes (83.8%) was collected for domestic recycling.
- Of the 31.4 megatonnes collected for domestic recycling by the Waste collection, treatment & disposal services industry, the largest waste categories were:
- masonry materials (11.7 megatonnes, 37.2%)
- organics (6.7 megatonnes, 21.4%)
- ash (5.3 megatonnes, 16.9%).
- Of the 4.1 megatonnes exported for recycling, the largest two waste categories were:
- metals (2.1 megatonnes, 51.4%)
- paper & cardboard (1.5 megatonnes, 35.0%).
Figure 6 compares domestic recycling (collected by the Waste collection, treatment & disposal services industry) to exports for recycling, by waste category.
Recycling rate (figure 7) is calculated as ‘exported for recycling’ plus ‘collected for recycling by the waste management industry’ divided by ‘total waste generation’ for a given material. Of the waste categories:
- metals have the highest recycling rate with 72.5% sent for recycling
- textiles, leather and rubber have the lowest recycling rate, with 11.6%
- plastics have a recycling rate of 12.7%.
- Recycling rate is “exports” plus “recycling by waste management industry” divided by total waste generation for a given material
Waste collection, treatment and disposal services industry
In 2016-17 gross value added was $4,212 million, which was an increase on 2015-16 (figure 8).
31,000 persons were employed at 30 June 2017, which was an increase on 2015-16 (figure 9).
- Refers only to the private sector.
In 2016-17 total compensation of employees in the Waste collection, treatment and disposal services industry was $2,670 million.
Income and expenditure on waste collection, treatment and disposal services
In 2016-17 the total supply of (or income from) Waste collection, treatment and disposal services by the Waste collection, treatment and disposal services industry, in basic prices, was $13,430 million.
In 2016-17 the total use of (or expenditure on) Waste collection, treatment and disposal Services in purchasers’ prices was valued at $14,420 million, of which the sectors spending the most were:
- the Construction industry, with $1,489 million
- the Manufacturing industry, with $1,085 million.