Data on municipal waste collected by or on behalf of municipal authorities and disposed of through the waste management system. The amount of municipal waste treatment is reported for the treatment operations incineration (with and without energy recovery), recycling, composting and landfilling. Data are available in thousand tonnes and kilograms per person. Wastes from agriculture and from industries are not included.

Municipal waste is mainly produced by households, though similar wastes from sources such as commerce, offices and public institutions are included.

According to the OECD/Eurostat Joint Questionnaire municipal waste includes the following types of materials: paper, paperboard and paper products, plastics, glass, metals, food and garden waste and textiles. The definition also includes: - bulky waste (e.g. white goods, old furniture, mattresses); and - garden waste, leaves, grass clippings, street sweepings, the content of litter containers, and market cleansing waste, if managed as waste.

It includes waste originating from: - households, - commerce and trade, small businesses, office buildings and institutions (schools, hospitals, government buildings).

It also includes: - waste from selected municipal services, i.e. waste from park and garden maintenance, waste from street cleaning services (street sweepings, the content of litter containers, market cleansing waste), if managed as waste.

It includes collected waste from these sources: - door-to-door through traditional collection (mixed household waste), and - fractions collected separately for recovery operations (through door-to-door collection and/or through voluntary deposits).