Business waste spans offices, shops, factories, construction sites, food-service operations and other commercial activities. The figures below distinguish commercial and industrial waste from municipal solid waste, identify the geography and measurement period, and preserve each source’s scope limitations.
Key Business Waste Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 2020, UK commercial and industrial sectors generated 40.4 million tonnes of waste.
- In 2023, England generated 32.6 million tonnes of commercial and industrial waste.
- In 2018, England’s commercial and industrial waste totaled 37.2 million tonnes.
- In 2022, construction and demolition represented 38.4% of total waste generated in the EU.
- In 2022, mining and quarrying represented 22.7% of total EU waste generation.
- In 2022, manufacturing represented 10.3% of total EU waste generation.
- In 2018, U.S. municipal solid waste generation reached 292.36 million short tons.
- In 2018, U.S. municipal solid waste recycling handled 69.09 million short tons, or 23.6% of generation.
- In 2018, U.S. municipal solid waste composting handled 24.89 million short tons, or 8.5% of generation.
- In 2018, U.S. municipal solid waste landfilling handled 146.12 million short tons, or 50.0% of generation.
- In 2018, U.S. municipal solid waste combustion with energy recovery handled 34.55 million short tons, or 11.8% of generation.
- In 2018, U.S. paper and paperboard recycling reached 68.2% of its generated material.
- In 2022, global food waste reached an estimated 1.05 billion tonnes at retail, food-service and household levels.
- In 2022, global food service generated an estimated 290 million tonnes of food waste.
- From 2017 to 2021, UK retail surplus food available for redistribution increased 105% to 26,000 tonnes.
- In 2024/25, England recorded 69,000 commercial-waste fly-tipping incidents.
Contents
- Commercial and industrial waste trends
- Business waste by sector in Europe
- Recycling, composting and treatment outcomes
- Food waste in retail and food service
- Materials, landfill and energy recovery
- Enforcement and surplus-food diversion
Business Waste Statistics: Commercial and Industrial Generation Trends
The UK series provides a long view of commercial and industrial waste, or C&I waste. Defra’s definition excludes sewage sludge, and the figures are as-received tonnages; the series covers manufacturing, industrial processes and service enterprises.
| Period | Commercial | Industrial | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 28.7 million tonnes | 15.0 million tonnes | 43.7 million tonnes |
| 2012 | 25.0 million tonnes | 17.6 million tonnes | 42.6 million tonnes |
| 2014 | 25.4 million tonnes | 14.6 million tonnes | 40.0 million tonnes |
| 2016 | 27.5 million tonnes | 13.5 million tonnes | 41.0 million tonnes |
| 2018 | 30.8 million tonnes | 13.1 million tonnes | 43.9 million tonnes |
| 2020 | 28.0 million tonnes | 12.4 million tonnes | 40.4 million tonnes |
Source: UK statistics on waste. The 2020 Scotland estimate used 2018 data because a 2020 estimate was unavailable.
England’s more recent estimates show a different angle: commercial waste remained the larger component of C&I waste, while the total moved below its 2018 peak.
- England generated 32.0 million tonnes of C&I waste in 2010, comprising 21.6 million commercial and 10.4 million industrial tonnes.
- England’s C&I waste peaked at 37.2 million tonnes in 2018, comprising 27.1 million commercial and 10.1 million industrial tonnes.
- England recorded 33.7 million tonnes in 2020, 33.8 million tonnes in 2021 and 33.6 million tonnes in 2022.
- England’s 2023 total was 32.6 million tonnes, including 23.5 million commercial and 9.1 million industrial tonnes.
- England generated an estimated 32 million tonnes of C&I waste in 2024; the latest estimate may be revised.
The England year-to-year series carries inherent uncertainty from underlying data and methodology, and the 2021 and 2022 values are identified as a revised series. These estimates should therefore be read as measured series points, not as precise changes in every business’s output.
Commercial Waste by Sector: EU Business Waste Data
Eurostat’s 2022 profile shows why sector definitions matter. The shares below cover total EU waste, including extractive and construction activities, rather than a business-only recycling rate.
| EU activity or category | Share of total waste, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Construction and demolition | 38.4% |
| Mining and quarrying | 22.7% |
| Waste and water services | 10.5% |
| Manufacturing | 10.3% |
| Other economic activities | 6.1% |
| Energy activities | 3.0% |
| Households | 9.0% |
Source: Waste generation by economic activities and households, 2022.
Construction and demolition was the largest listed activity at 38.4%, followed by mining and quarrying at 22.7%. Manufacturing accounted for 10.3%, while waste and water services accounted for 10.5%.
Households represented 9.0% as contextual information, not as a business measure. “Other economic activities” excludes that separately reported household category, so the table should not be treated as a simple ranking of only commercial premises.
Business Recycling, Composting and Waste-Treatment Outcomes
U.S. EPA municipal solid waste data offer outcome benchmarks that include residential, commercial and institutional sources. They are useful for understanding treatment pathways, but they are not a complete measure of all industrial or business waste.
| U.S. MSW pathway | 2018 quantity | Share of generation |
|---|---|---|
| Recycling | 69.09 million short tons | 23.6% |
| Composting | 24.89 million short tons | 8.5% |
| Other food-management pathways | 17.71 million short tons | 6.1% |
| Combustion with energy recovery | 34.55 million short tons | 11.8% |
| Landfilling | 146.12 million short tons | 50.0% |
Source: Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2018 Fact Sheet.
The same EPA fact sheet reports 292.36 million short tons of U.S. MSW generation in 2018. Its food-management figure uses an enhanced methodology introduced for 2018, so it should not be compared casually with older food estimates.
Material-specific outcomes add detail:
- U.S. paper and paperboard generation reached 67.39 million short tons in 2018, with 45.97 million recycled, a 68.2% recycling rate.
- U.S. glass generation reached 12.25 million short tons, with 3.06 million recycled, a 25.0% recycling rate.
- Yard-trimmings composting reached 22.30 million short tons, equal to 63.0% of that material’s generation.
- The EPA’s “other wastes” category generated 102.60 million short tons; 24.89 million were composted and 49.08 million landfilled.
- Food and other waste generated 63.13 million short tons; 17.71 million used other food-management pathways and 35.28 million were landfilled.
Food Waste Statistics for Retail and Food-Service Businesses
UNEP’s consumer-level estimate separates food waste from upstream food loss. In 2022, food waste across retail, food service and households reached an estimated 1.05 billion tonnes, equal to 19% of food available to consumers.
- Households generated 631 million tonnes, or 60% of the 2022 global total; this is contextual and is not business waste.
- Food service generated 290 million tonnes in 2022.
- Retail generated approximately 130 million tonnes in 2022, calculated from UNEP’s rounded total after subtracting the reported household and food-service amounts.
Source: Food Waste Index Report 2024: Key Messages.
The retail estimate is explicitly approximate because it is derived from rounded published totals. UNEP’s figures cover food waste at the consumer level and exclude the separate 13% supply-chain food-loss estimate, so they should not be combined with upstream loss statistics.
Commercial Waste Materials, Landfill and Energy Recovery
The EPA material data show how the same material can have very different outcomes. In 2018, paper and paperboard had a 68.2% recycling rate, while glass had a 25.0% recycling rate.
- Paper and paperboard landfilling was 17.22 million short tons, or 25.6% of that material’s generation.
- Glass landfilling was 7.55 million short tons. EPA’s directly reported tonnage corresponds to 61.6% of glass generation when the table total is used for the percentage.
Source: Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2018 Fact Sheet.
EPA’s composition figures also identify the materials most visible in treatment pathways. In 2018, food represented about 22% of MSW combustion with energy recovery, rubber, leather and textiles represented over 16%, plastics approximately 16%, and paper and paperboard approximately 12%.
For landfilling, food represented about 24% of U.S. MSW, plastics over 18%, and paper and paperboard about 12%. These are composition measures for all relevant MSW, not business-only shares.
Source: National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling.
Commercial Waste Enforcement and Surplus-Food Diversion
Reported fly-tipping incidents provide an enforcement signal rather than a tonnage estimate. England recorded 69,000 commercial-waste fly-tipping incidents in 2024/25, equal to 6% of all incidents.
- Commercial-waste incidents fell 6% from 74,000 in 2023/24 to 69,000 in 2024/25.
- Of the 2024/25 total, 32,000 incidents involved black bags and 37,000 involved other commercial waste.
Source: Fly-tipping statistics for England, 2024 to 2025.
Surplus-food redistribution measures a different outcome: food made available for redistribution, not all food waste generated. WRAP reported the following changes between 2017 and 2021:
| UK sector | Increase | Additional surplus food available for redistribution |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 105% | 26,000 tonnes |
| Food manufacturing | 74% | 18,900 tonnes |
Source: Surplus food redistribution in the UK 2015 to 2021.
The two separately reported sector increases represent at least 44,900 tonnes of additional surplus food available for redistribution between 2017 and 2021. That sum is limited to UK retail and food manufacturing and is not a total for all business sectors.