Geographies of Waste: Significance, Semantics and Statistics in pursuit of a Circular Economy

More than half a century ago, Kenneth Boulding described Earth as “a single spaceship, without unlimited reservoirs of anything, either for extraction or for pollution”. The circular economy has since emerged as a paradigm addressing both resource scarcity and waste management. In Europe, since 2015, policy documents have increasingly supported this transition, emphasizing the need for monitoring to track progress, evaluate priorities, and assess decision-making impacts.

A recurring challenge in circular economy monitoring is the availability of adequate data. While monitoring extends beyond waste, waste-related data remains crucial as it reflects the potential for closing material loops. Large amounts of waste data are collected under European Regulation (EC) 2150/2002, requiring member states to report statistical data on waste generation and processing to the European Commission.

This research investigates why European Waste Statistics (EWS) fail to fully address the data availability challenge necessary to advance the circular economy. The case study focuses on the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, using data from the Dutch National Waste Registry (Landelijk Meldpunt Afvalstoffen, LMA). Three research topics are explored: assessing the significance of policy decision impacts, understanding the semantics of waste and circular economy, and evaluating the adequacy of waste statistics for monitoring purposes.

A theoretical framework for impact significance assessment is developed, positioning significance assessment as part of a decision-making process that prioritizes alternatives based on both the context and magnitude of effects. This framework informs the design of a circular economy monitor. Monitoring requirements are further refined through a formal ontology development method, which includes interviews with prospective monitor users within the municipality of Amsterdam. By comparing user expectations with available data, tools, and socio-economic metabolism theory, misalignments are identified. Although waste statistics capture core concepts of resource flows, they often lack semantic granularity and coverage to interpret waste-related impacts, values, and circularity potentials.

An in-depth examination of the Dutch National Waste Registry highlights limitations in current data collection and gaps in circular economy theory. Four data queries illustrate that, despite these limitations, innovative computational methods can extract valuable insights into the existing waste system and its circularity potential.

The study identifies seven barriers limiting the effectiveness of EWS in circular economy monitoring, accompanied by concrete recommendations for revising the European Waste Statistics Regulation. These include financial, infrastructure, and expertise support to overcome linear-economy path dependencies, a revision of the waste definition to reduce semantic ambiguities, and the development and alignment of taxonomies based on open standards and community involvement. Recognizing that numerical data is socially produced, these measures aim to enhance the relevance, interpretability, and usability of waste statistics for circular economy policy and practice