Waste balance

Waste statistics show how much waste is generated, imported and exported, recovered, disposed of and landfilled in Estonia.

Waste statistics are necessary for organising and developing waste management in Estonia. An overview of waste utilisation contributes to raising environmental awareness.

Statistics Estonia uses the waste balance data to compile environmental pressure indicators, sustainable development indicators, and indicators published in the Tree of Truth application of Statistics Estonia.

The waste balance describes the quantities of waste, including hazardous waste, generated, recovered, disposed of and landfilled in Estonia, as well as imported into and exported from Estonia during the year. It also includes the quantities of waste held by enterprises at the beginning and end of the year.

Waste is classified according to the six-digit classification of waste types in the Jäätmenimistu (list of waste; in Estonian only), annexed to Regulation No 70 of 14 December 2015 of the Minister of the Environment, Jäätmete liigitamise kord ja jäätmenimistu (procedure for the classification of waste and the list of waste; in Estonian only). The Estonian list of waste is based on the activity or sector in which waste is generated.

Jäätmenimistu (list of waste), annexed to Regulation No 70 of 14 December 2015 of the Minister of the Environment, Jäätmete liigitamise kord ja jäätmenimistu (procedure for the classification of waste and the list of waste; in Estonian only).

The 2002–2019 hazardous waste balance data correspond to the previous version of the list of waste, under which oil shale bottom ash and oil shale fly ash were classified as hazardous waste. From 1 January 2020 onwards oil shale bottom ash and oil shale fly ash have been classified as non-hazardous waste.

The quantities of waste recovered and disposed of are in accordance with the Estonian lists of waste recovery and disposal operations, Jäätmete taaskasutamis- ja kõrvaldamistoimingute nimistud (in Estonian only).

The Estonian waste balance covers the entire country, including all institutional sectors and economic activities.

Export – quantities of waste exported from Estonia to foreign countries
Hazardous waste – waste which, due to the hazardous properties specified in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 1357/2014 may cause a hazard to human health, property or the environment
Import – quantities of waste imported into Estonia from foreign countries
Landfill – a waste management facility for the deposit of waste onto or into land, including waste management facilities where a waste producer deposits waste at its place of production (internal waste disposal sites) and waste management facilities which are permanently used for storage of waste for longer than one year
List of waste – a classification of waste in which types of waste are identified by six-digit codes, while the two- and four-digit codes for sections and subsections represent three classification levels
Waste – any movable property or registered ship belonging to any of the waste categories which the holder discards, intends or is required to discard
Waste disposal – landfilling, incineration without energy recovery, or any other equivalent operation that is not recovery, including preparation of waste for disposal, even where the operation has a secondary consequence of reclaiming substances or energy
Waste generation – waste generated in an enterprise during the reporting period due to production or other activity including waste collected from others
Waste management – collection, delivery, recovery, and disposal of waste
Waste permit – a right granted to a person handling waste or a waste producer to carry out one or several of the waste handling operations specified in the the Waste Act or generate waste in the areas of activity specified in § 73 of the Waste Act (RT I 2004, 9, 52). A waste permit also determines the requirements for exercising the right. Waste permits are granted by the Environmental Board.
A waste permit is required for:

• disposal of waste;
• waste recovery;
• collection or transport of hazardous waste;
• collection or transport of metal waste produced or transferred by other persons, except collection or transport of metal packaging of beverages taxable on the basis of the Packaging Excise Duty Act (RT I 1997, 5/6, 31; 1999, 54, 583; 2000, 59, 381; 2001, 88, 531; 2003, 88, 591), for the purposes of further commercial distribution or recovery;
• waste transport organised by a local government;
• transport of municipal waste if carried out as a business or professional activity.

Waste recovery – any waste management operation whose principal result is waste serving a useful purpose by replacing other materials that would otherwise have been used to fulfil a particular function, or waste being prepared to fulfil that function, either in the plant or in the wider economy
Waste treatment – the mechanical, thermal, chemical, or biological processing of waste, including sorting and packaging, which changes the properties of waste in order to reduce its quantity or hazardousness, facilitate its handling or disposal, or improve its recovery. The compaction of waste for the purpose of reducing its volume, for example during transport or landfilling, is not considered waste treatment.

Enterprise

Enterprises holding a waste permit or an integrated environmental permit.

Estonia as a whole

2002–…

Data are published annually for the previous year. Data published in 2026 refer to the period from 01.01.2025 to 31.12.2025.

The data are comparable over time from 2002 onwards, with the exception of data on oil shale bottom ash and oil shale fly ash published in the hazardous waste balance. The 2002–2019 hazardous waste balance data correspond to the previous version of the list of waste, under which oil shale bottom ash and oil shale fly ash were classified as hazardous waste. With effect from 1 January 2020, oil shale bottom ash and oil shale fly ash were reclassified as non-hazardous waste. Consequently, the totals in the hazardous waste balance from 2020 onwards are not comparable with those for previous years. The change affects only oil shale bottom ash and oil shale fly ash; data on all other types of waste are comparable over time from 2002 onwards.

In 2002, new time series covering a wider range of waste types (123 types in total) were introduced. The earlier archived data tables (110 waste types) are as follows:
KK611: Waste balance by waste categories (1999–2001) and
KK612: Balance of hazardous waste by waste categories (1999–2001).

Not applicable

Official Statistics Act;
Waste Act;
Jäätmete liigitamise kord ja jäätmenimistu (procedure for the classification of waste and the list of waste; in Estonian only);
Jäätmete taaskasutamis- ja kõrvaldamistoimingute nimistud (lists of waste recovery and disposal operations; in Estonian only);
Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2002 on waste statistics.

Administrative data on waste generation are obtained from the Environment Agency under a contract.

News items can be viewed on the website of Statistics Estonia under Waste and circular economy.
No press releases are published for this statistical process.

Not published

Data are published in the statistical database in the following tables under the subject area Environment / Environmental pressure / Generation of waste:
KK610: Waste balance by waste categories and
KK6115: Balance of hazardous waste by waste categories.

The following discontinued data tables are available under the subject area Discontinued datasets / Environment. Archive / Environmental pressure. Archive:
KK611: Waste balance by waste categories (1999–2001) and
KK612: Balance of hazardous waste by waste categories (1999–2001).

The data tables related to this statistical process were viewed 350 times in 2025.
This figure does not include views of discontinued data tables. Each table view is counted separately. The count is based on database URLs indicating that the data have been selected and a table view has been generated.

Under the Official Statistics Act, researchers and policymakers may apply for access to pseudonymised data in Statistics Estonia’s secure research environment. A procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes has been established. Under this procedure, the purpose of data use must be justified and, depending on the type of data, approval from the Data Protection Inspectorate or the relevant ethics committee is required when applying for access to the data.

An overview of waste statistics is available on the Estonian Environment Portal under Statistiline ülevaade (in Estonian only).
Data from this statistical process are presented in the environment section of Statistics Estonia's web application Tree of Truth.

The metadata related to the statistical process were viewed 58 times (1 January 2025 – 31 December 2025). This figure does not represent the number of viewers, as the metadata may have been viewed multiple times by a single user.
Until 2025, waste generation and waste balance data were covered in a joint quality and methodology report.

The methodology for compiling the data has been developed by the Environment Agency, which also maintains the methodological documentation. More detailed information is available on the Estonian Environment Portal under Waste (methodological information available in Estonian only).

This statistical process is guided by the European Statistics Code of Practice – revised edition, 2017.

Administrative data on enterprises that hold a waste permit or an integrated environmental permit and/or are engaged in waste treatment and waste collection are used as input.

A waste permit grants a waste handler or waste generator the right to carry out one or more waste management activities and specifies the conditions for exercising this right.

In accordance with the Waste Act, persons holding an environmental protection permit or a waste permit, or waste generators, as well as hazardous waste generators (except households), are required to keep continuous records of the type, quantity, nature, and origin of waste generated, collected, stored, transported, treated, recovered, or disposed of in the course of their activities, including the quantity and characteristics of waste prepared for re-use or recycled. If waste is transferred to another waste handler, records must also be kept on the destination of the waste, collection frequency, modes of transport, and recovery and disposal operations. Waste permit holders are required to submit an annual report on waste generation and management to the Environment Agency. Subsequently, the following data are obtained from the Environment Agency: waste generation by type of waste; waste disposal, including landfilling; waste recovery, including energy recovery; and waste exports and imports.

Annual

The data are received from the Environment Agency in accordance with the contract between the Environment Agency and Statistics Estonia.

The Environment Agency validates the source data submitted by enterprises. Statistics Estonia receives aggregated data from the Environment Agency at the most detailed level of the Estonian list of waste. Statistics Estonia does not validate the administrative data received. Output tables are compared with those from the previous year and, where necessary, specialists at the Environment Agency are consulted to clarify any significant deviations.

Statistics Estonia compares the data with those from previous years and consults the Environment Agency (KAUR) if any changes require clarification. Before publication, subgroup values are checked against the aggregate values. Statistics Estonia's aggregates are also compared with those of the Environment Agency. (Waste reporting statistics are available on the Waste webpage of the Environment Agency under Waste information query (in Estonian only).)

When processing aggregated data for the hazardous waste balance, it is important to account for variations in the types of waste represented in KAUR's data from year to year. For example, a type of waste reported in one year may be absent in another. If a new waste type appears in the data, an additional row must be added to the output table.

The imputation rate shows the share of imputed values among all values.
Data values are not imputed in this statistical process.

Not applicable

Not applicable