Waste from service industries, 1999

Retail and wholesale trade means all types of shops and trading companies engaged in retail and wholesale trade. The survey is based on a Norwegian recycling analysis of waste quantities received in 1999 from approx. 2 200 companies. It must be underlined that there is considerable uncertainty in the results due to the preliminary nature of the calculations (see detailed description in About the Statistics).

Altogether 630 000 tonnes of waste occurred in retail and wholesale trade in 1999. Paper and cardboard waste accounted for fully 47 per cent (299 000 tonnes¹) of this amount, while unsorted waste accounted for nearly 45 per cent (284 000 tonnes). Biodegradable waste, plastic and glass are largely collected or delivered through special programmes. These types of materials consequently have little representation in the statistical basis, so quantities will in all probability be higher than calculated. Some of the real quantities could also be hidden as unsorted waste. Preliminary calculations show that more than 10 per cent of the unsorted waste consists of paper and cardboard, which in case will further increase the quantities of paper waste.

Grocery stores sort the most

Nearly half (45 per cent) of all waste delivered by retail and wholesale trade is unsorted, i.e. the industry as a whole has a sorting rate of 55 per cent. The grocery trade sorts the largest percentage of the waste it delivers, 73 per cent. Car dealer and filling stations sort 58 per cent, while wholesalers sort the least, with a percentage of 52 per cent. It should be mentioned that so-called cut waste, i.e. unsorted waste mixed with biodegradable waste, is collected via special municipal programmes. There is therefore reason to assume that the sorting rate of the grocery trade may be lower than estimated, at the same time as the total quantity of unsorted waste from retail and wholesale trade may be higher than calculated.

Most paper from retail trade

Retail trade accounted for 60 per cent of all cardboard and paper waste that occurred in retail and wholesale trade in 1999. Of this, 90 000 tonnes occurred in the grocery trade, while 85 000 tonnes occurred in other retail trade. The paper quantities estimated in this survey are a good deal higher than previously assumed. At the same time the percentage of other packaging materials such as plastic and glass are less than previously assumed. This could be because sorting of paper and cardboard is well established, while the sorting of plastic in particular was somewhat less established in 1999. There is therefore reason to assume that the amounts of plastic and glass can be underestimated in this survey. Earlier figures from Statistics Norway indicate that the ratio between plastic and paper in the waste can be about one to three.

37 000 tonnes¹ of food waste from grocery stores

Altogether 200 000 tonnes of waste occurred in grocery stores in 1999, which accounted for more than 30 per cent of the total amount of waste from retail and wholesale trade. Food waste made up about 20 per cent of this - just over 37 000 tonnes. Some food waste occurred in addition to wholesale trade in food, beverages and tobacco. There is reason to believe that the amount of biodegradable waste can be somewhat higher than estimated, in part because there are several special programmes for collecting food waste not covered by the data basis for this survey, and partly because food waste can go into unsorted waste.

Most metal and hazardous waste from car and motor dealers

Altogether 15 000 tonnes of steel and metal waste occurred in retail and wholesale trade in 1999. Sixty per cent of this came from car dealers and auto service facilities. Six thousand tonnes of hazardous waste was also generated by auto service facilities, making up more than 50 per cent of all hazardous waste delivered by the entire retail and wholesale industry. Filling stations and car dealers contributed nearly 25 per cent (1 500 tonnes) of hazardous waste.

Sorted material sent to recycling

Because waste from various suppliers is mixed at the waste facility, it is difficult to estimate how much of the waste in retail and wholesale trade goes to different treatments. The estimates must therefore be based on the general treatment of different types of materials. Most of the sorted fractions delivered or collected are sent to material and energy recovery. In addition, a large part of the unsorted waste is sorted at the facilities for the same purposes. Unsorted material is also used to make brickettes that produce heat. Some of the food waste collected goes to plants that manufacture pig food. This covers inter alia all food waste collected by Norwegian recycling. Of the unsorted waste delivered to recycling companies around 25 per cent ends up in landfills.