Updated, with new England figures for 2021 and 2022
Accurately quantifying C&D waste is challenging and whilst the absolute tonnage figures are subject to a relatively high level of uncertainty, there is not a significant impact on the final recovery rate. Table 6 and 7 show the amount of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste generated and recovered for both the UK and England Table 6: Recovery rate from non-hazardous construction and demolition waste, UK, 2010–2020 (million tonnes and % rate)
YearGenerationRecoveryRecovery rate 201059.253.189.7% 201160.255.291.8% 201255.851.091.4% 201357.152.291.5% 201461.656.491.7% 201563.858.491.5% 201666.260.691.6% 201768.763.692.5% 201867.863.293.1% 201968.263.793.3% 202059.455.092.6% Source: Defra Statistics
Notes - Table 6
Excludes excavation waste. Percentages calculated using unrounded figures. For England and Wales, recovery is calculated as generation minus landfill. For Scotland and NI recovery is calculated as generation minus landfill and incineration. The Environment Agency permit data for England for 2019 onwards includes data on extra sites which is now being captured within the methodology. Due to a cyber-attack, C&D estimates for Scotland are not available for 2019 and 2020. To calculate a UK figure for 2019 and 2020, the 2018 data for Scotland has been used for 2019 and the 2021 Scotland figure has been used for 2020. Revisions have been made to the construction and demolition (C&D) figures for England for 2020, due to revised site return data.
Download the data for this table In 2020, the UK generated 59.4 million tonnes of non-hazardous C&D waste, of which 55.0 million tonnes was recovered. This represents a recovery rate of 92.6% (Table 6). The UK recovery rate from non-hazardous C&D waste has remained at similar levels from 2010 to 2020. Table 7: Recovery rate from non-hazardous construction and demolition waste, England, 2010–2022 (million tonnes and % rate)
YearGenerationRecoveryRecovery rate 201053.649.492.2% 201154.950.892.5% 201250.546.492.0% 201351.747.692.0% 201455.951.792.4% 201557.753.392.3% 201659.655.092.1% 201762.257.993.1% 201861.457.593.8% 201962.358.393.6% 202053.950.393.2% 202161.157.293.6% 202263.059.494.3% Source: Defra Statistics
Notes - Table 7
The Environment Agency permit data for England for 2019 onwards includes data on extra sites which is now being captured within the methodology. For England recovery is calculated as generation minus landfill. Revisions have been made to the construction and demolition (C&D) figures for England for 2020, due to revised site return data.
Download the data for this table In 2022, England generated 63.0 million tonnes of non-hazardous C&D waste, of which 59.4 million tonnes was recovered. This represents a recovery rate of 94.3% (Table 7). The England recovery rate from non-hazardous C&D waste has remained at 92–94% from 2010 to 2022.