77 per cent of the population have waste sorting systems

Three hundred of Norway's 435 local governments (municipalities) had introduced a waste sorting and collection system for household waste in 1997. This is 66 more than in 1995. The systems cover 1,421,630 households or 77 per cent of the population. This is up from 52 per cent in 1995.

The scope of municipal waste sorting is calculated on the basis of 2.39 persons per household. Statistics Norway has conducted a census to survey waste management systems in the municipalities. It pays special attention to municipalities with systems for collecting waste from the households. Other sorting systems, such as special containers and sorting at waste stations, take in larger quantities of waste for recycling. Of the total amount of household waste that is recycled, 49 per cent is collected with the help of collection systems.

Paper the most common

Paper, cardboard and cartons are the most common materials for which municipal collection systems have been established. In 1997, altogether 73 per cent of the population distributed among 283 of the country's municipalities had collection systems for this fraction. Collection of beverage cartons has exploded since 1995 when 766,900 persons had access to collection systems for this type of waste. Last year, 2,567,200 persons had access, an increase of 235 per cent. In all, 58 per cent of the population was covered.

Glass collection systems have increased from covering 4.2 per cent of the population in 1995 to 5.8 per cent in 1997, while the percentage of the population that can get metal collected has gone down from 2.9 per cent in 1995 to 2.4 per cent last year.

New Statistics
Municipal waste, waste sorting and fees, 1997.
The statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For 1992 and 1995 they are also in Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Waste Statistics - Municipal waste. Statistics broken down by municipality will be published on Statistics Norway's web pages in October. For more information, contact: olav.skogesal@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 51 65, or olav.ronningen@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 51 51.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 36, 1998