The figures confirm that municipal waste arisings continued to climb during the mid-to-late 1990s, with the average per capita contribution for 1997 calculated at 392kg per year, compared with a 1995 average of 352kg. Communities with significant tourist economies recorded the highest levels of per capita municipal waste, at 496kg or 30% higher than average. Urban centres were the second-highest waste producers at 416kg. Ifen's analysis of the data stresses that suburban and rural waste arisings both averaged around 340kg.
Landfilling remains the dominant waste management method, with 48% of municipal waste going to landfill without pre-treatment. For communities with less than 500 habitants the figure was 70%. But incineration was a close second, accounting for the treatment of more than 40% of municipal waste - incineration with energy recovery was used for three-quarters of total incinerated waste.
Ifen does not provide a total material recycling figure, but about a quarter, or 8.5m tonnes, of total municipal waste arisings were collected separately and recycled or recovered in 1997. About 20% of French households were provided with at least one separate collection of recyclable waste per week.
Follow Up:
Ifen, tel: +33 2 38 79 78 78; issue 59 of Ifen's monthly environmental statistics, on municipal waste management will soon be published here.
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