Generation, Recovery and Disposal of Waste

1. Generation of waste

The statistical survey suggested that the total generation of waste in the Czech Republic
in 2003 had been 28.4 million tonnes (0.2 million tonnes up on 2002) of which 25.2 million tonnes was generated by activities of enterprises. Total generation of hazardous waste
in 2003 amounted to 1.2 million tonnes (0.1 million tonnes down on 2002). Table 1 gives
the generation of waste by selected CZ-NACE divisions, while Graphs 1 and 2 show
the generation for these divisions per capita.
The generation of waste by enterprises grew by 0.8% year-on-year, the highest increases being recorded for ‘manufacture of textiles’ (+192%), ‘recycling’ (+120.3%)
and ‘manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture’ (+59.7%).

2. Waste management

A total of 29.2 million tonnes of waste was handled in 2003. This amount includes waste generated in the reference year plus waste taken from stores in the same year
for handling. Of this total, 24.2 million tonnes was recycled or disposed of by the units measured. 5.0 million tonnes was passed to other units outside the population under
the survey. Table 4 gives recycling operations or disposal methods for the generated, stored and handed-over waste, used by the waste producer or recipient.
In 2003, 17.7% of all waste was recovered (R codes) (25.2% in 2002) and 30.7% of all waste was disposed of (D codes) (25.1% in 2002). Landfilling continued to be the most frequently used way of disposing of waste. A total of 25.2% of all waste was disposed of at landfills
in 2003. As far as hazardous waste in 2003 is concerned, 27.4% was recovered (21.0%
in 2002). A total of 52.5% of hazardous waste was disposed of in 2003 (30.2% in 2002).

Municipalities reported their generation of waste at the amount of 3.2 million tonnes of which the generation of municipal and trade wastes stood at 2.9 million tonnes (279.3 kg
per inhabitant). This translates into an increase of 0.1 million tonnes compared to 2002.
Seen by type of municipal waste collection, the largest year-on-year increase was recorded
for the volume of separately collected waste components (+68.5%), while the largest
year-on-year drop was measured for collected bulky waste (-14.5%). The total waste generation of municipalities, 3.2 million tonnes, also includes other reported kinds of waste such as construction and demolition waste, wastewater treatment waste and other waste classified outside Group 20 of the List of Wastes.

4. Consumption of waste as secondary raw material

The established consumption of selected wastes as secondary raw materials
for manufacture of selected products in measured enterprises (glassworks, metallurgical work, construction companies, etc.) was 5.6 million tonnes in 2003 – i.e. 2.0 million tonnes up on 2002. The consumption increased most in construction and demolition waste (for land reclaiming and landscaping, CZ-NACE 90). An increase in consumption also occurred
in glass waste, aluminium-containing waste and lead-containing waste.