Descrizione 1
Angelo Santini, Fabio Tatti
In 2022, the economic recovery that had already begun in previous years continued, further compensating for the sharp decline caused by the health emergency that significantly impacted the socio-economic landscape in 2020. Despite the increases recorded between 2021 and 2022 in socio-economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and final consumption expenditure within the economic territory—up by 4% and 5.8%, respectively—the data on municipal waste generation, on the other hand, show a decline (-1.9%).
This indicator measures the total amount of municipal waste generated in Italy in relation to GDP (chain-linked values, reference year 2015) and household expenditure (chain-linked values, reference year 2015).
To measure the total amount of waste generated and the correlation between waste generation and socio-economic indicators.
Directive 2008/98/CE, Legislative Decree No. 152/2006, Legislative Decree No. 205/2010 Ministerial Decree of May 26, 2016, containing “Linee guida per il calcolo della percentuale di raccolta differenziata dei rifiuti urbani”
The National Waste Prevention Program, established under Article 180, paragraph 1-bis of Legislative Decree No. 152/2006 and issued by the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) with a directive decree on October 7, 2013, identifies municipal waste generation per unit of GDP as one of the monitored parameters for assessing the effectiveness of implemented measures. A target was set for a 5% reduction, compared to 2010 levels, to be achieved by 2020.
Descrizione 2
ISPRA - Rapporto Rifiuti Urbani (various editions)
http://dati.istat.it/
Qualificazione dati
The data on waste generation at the national scale, as well as disaggregated by macro-geographical area, region, province, and municipality, are freely accessible and downloadable from the website www.catasto-rifiuti.isprambiente.it. Economic indicator data can be retrieved from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) at http://dati.istat.it/.
Nazionale
2002-2022
Qualificazione indicatore
The indicator is obtained by relating the total amount of municipal waste generated in Italy to GDP (chain-linked values, reference year 2015), as well as to the consumption of both resident and non-resident households within the economic territory (chain-linked values, reference year 2015).
In 2022, waste generation recorded a decline (-1.9%), diverging from the trends of GDP and household consumption, which increased by 4% and 5.8%, respectively. Regarding the waste prevention target set by the Directive Decree of October 7, 2013—which established a 5% reduction in municipal waste generation per unit of GDP by 2020 compared to 2010—this target was achieved in 2022, with a reduction of 13.5% compared to 2010 (Figure 2).
From 2013 to 2019, municipal waste generation grew at a much slower pace compared to socio-economic indicators. The situation changed in 2020, when municipal waste generation decreased, but to a lesser extent than socio-economic indicators (Figure 1). Analyzing the entire historical series (2002-2022), a downward trend is observed for both ratios: -6.9% for municipal waste generation relative to GDP and -5.3% for municipal waste generation relative to household consumption (Figure 2).
Dati
Figure 1: Trend of municipal waste generation and main socio-economic indicators
ISPRA elaboration based on ISPRA and Istat data
Figure 2: Trend of municipal waste generation per unit of GDP and per unit of household expenditure
ISPRA elaboration based on ISPRA and Istat data
Overall, the fluctuating trend in waste generation can be linked to various factors, often in combination, including new regulatory provisions and health or socio-economic events such as the 2020 pandemic and the 2022 international crisis. In general terms, the 2022 data appear to reflect the long-term downward trend (Figure 1).
Regarding the effects of regulatory changes, waste generation data can be influenced both by the introduction of different accounting methods for municipal waste data and by the possibility for non-domestic users to adopt alternative collection methods instead of relying on public waste management services, following sectoral legislative changes.
A closer analysis of the trend in municipal waste generation relative to household consumption reveals that between 2013 and 2014, the two indicators followed a similar pattern (with the ratio remaining stable). However, between 2014 and 2015, they diverged, with waste generation decreasing and consumption increasing, leading to a decline in the ratio.
In 2016, both indicators grew, though municipal waste generation increased slightly more. In 2017, household consumption rose while municipal waste generation declined, reducing the ratio. In 2018, both indicators grew again, but waste generation increased at a faster rate, raising the ratio.
In 2019, municipal waste generation declined slightly, while household consumption increased, reducing the ratio. In 2020, the ratio significantly increased due to a decrease in both indicators, but more sharply for household expenditures.
In 2021, the ratio declined as household consumption rose more than municipal waste generation. In 2022, this trend was even more pronounced (Figure 2).