Results from the joint Municipal Waste Management Survey by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the National Assembly for Wales show that municipal waste in England and Wales in 1998/99 arose from the following sources:

In 1999 a detailed study was undertaken in Hampshire to analyse the composition of household waste in refuse and recycling collections (which contribute 68% to municipal waste in Hampshire) and taken to civic amenity Sites (29% of Hampshire's municipal waste). The results were as follows:

The Hampshire study found that more waste was put out in areas with wheeled bin refuse collections compared to those with sack systems, but a relationship was not found between relative wealth of a neighbourhood and waste produced. Several methods of kerbside collections for dry recyclables operate in Hampshire and the diversion rates varied from 5% to 37%. Potentially hazardous wastes at civic amenity sites amounted to 0.6% and were within a range of 0.1­1.2% in household bin waste.

Research published by the Environment Agency in 2000 found that the quantity of packaging in household waste was positively correlated with a number of factors. Household size (the number of occupants) had the largest correlation coefficient. Other household variables, measured by a questionnaire survey, were found to directly influence the quantities of specific packaging components (such as pet ownership was related to the quantity of metal cans, frequency of cooking pre­packed foods was related to plastic packaging, frequency of recycling was related to reduced quantities of glass and metal packaging). However, many of these factors were also found to be inter­correlated with one another (for example, the type of waste container and household size).

David Mansell, March 2001

References:

Municipal Waste Management 1998/99 (September 2000): A National Statistics publication produced by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

Is It a Load of rubbish? ­ The Summary Findings of Project Integra's Household Waste Research Programme (2000): Project Integra

Project Integra ­ Kerbside and Household Waste Recycling Centre Waste Analysis and Questionnaire Survey Results (2000) ­ M.E.L Research Ltd on behalf of Hampshire County Council

A Study of the Composition of Collected Household Waste in the United Kingdom (February 2000): University of East Anglia on behalf of the Environment Agency