Consumption and tourism on the rise, but waste management in place

2024-09-25 07:47:43, Aktualitet CNA

The rapid increase in the number of tourists and consumption in the last two years has also affected the increase in waste, but the official data of INSTAT show that the volumes of their management are not changing.

According to the official announcement, in 2023, around 844,157 tons of urban waste were managed, while in 2022 this amount was 820,322 tons, marking an increase of 0.03%.

In 2023, the amount of non-urban waste managed together with urban waste is 10.30% of the total amount, from 11.62% in 2022, marking a decrease of 1.32%.

If we were to refer to the main categories of managed urban waste, organic waste continues to dominate urban waste management. This category accounts for the largest share of managed urban waste, with a share that has remained relatively stable, 57-58%, in the last three years.

The categories Plastic, Glass and Paper, Cardboard make up the group of waste whose weight has been increasing in the overall structure of managed urban waste.

If we were to refer to the main categories of waste treatment, it can be observed that there is a significant increase in waste incinerated for energy, from 2022 to 2023.

Consumption and tourism on the rise, but waste management in place

During 2023, 4.55% of urban waste was burned for energy purposes, marking an increase in this indicator by 0.16 percentage points, compared to the same indicator in 2022.

Recycling remains a significant part of waste management. During 2023, 18.81% of the total amount of waste was recycled, while last year this indicator was 18.89%.

Consumption and tourism on the rise, but waste management in place

Landfill and waste fields, approved as temporary deposits by the respective municipalities, continue to be the most used method for waste management, although with a slight decrease from 76.58% in 2022 to 76.49% in the year 2023

Until 2018, the statistics on "Urban Solid Waste in Albania" were based on data collected in the field through the annual survey on urban waste near the entities that carried out the activity of their collection and management.

Consumption and tourism on the rise, but waste management in place

In 2020, INSTAT for the collection of data on urban solid waste referring to the year 2019, has applied for the first time the method through "online" electronic questionnaires in all municipalities of the country.

Urban solid waste is deposited in waste collection bins and in our country, they are generally collected unseparated by type and in many cases industrial waste resulting from production and services of small business entities in the urban territory is also thrown in the same place. ./ Monitor.al

Consumption and tourism on the rise, but waste management in place