NSW waste and recycling performance data: 2023–24 financial year
The waste and recycling performance data provides insight on the progress of NSW on improving waste outcomes. This includes reducing waste generation and increasing recycling by diverting materials from landfill. The data is a vital source for industry, community and government to inform decision-making and policy.
The data should be used with reference to the Data Quality Statement. Note that totals may not exactly match the sum of their parts due to rounding.
Key findings
Overall recycling rate
In 2023–24, NSW recycled 66% of its waste. This is up from the 63% baseline in 2015–16 and mirrors the 5-year average of 65% recorded between 2019–20 and 2023–24.
Figure 1
Total waste generated
NSW generated 21.4 million tonnes of waste in 2023–24, a 4% drop from 2022–23 and slightly under the five-year average of 21.7 million tonnes. The decline is mainly due to reduced commercial and industrial (C&I) and construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation rose slightly over the same period. Figure 2 shows waste generated by stream from 2015–16 to 2023–24. Wider social and economic factors may explain this overall decrease.
Figure 2
Recycling performance in NSW
In 2023–24, the overall recycling rate held at 66%, the same as the previous year. During this period, total waste generated fell by 4% and the amount sent to landfill dropped by 6%. The total tonnes recycled also decreased by 3%.
As not all materials can be recovered, a smaller waste stream means fewer tonnes available to recycle, contributing to this flat recycling rate. Figure 3 compares the recycling rate for each stream to the NSW rate of 66%.
Figure 3
The recycling rate for MSW fell by 1% to 48% in 2023–24. Despite this drop, it remains 6% above the 2015–16 level of 42%. The actual volumes of organics and plastics recovered did increase, even as the rate declined.
The C&I recycling rate was 50%, down 1% on 2022–23. The C&D recycling rate was 80%, up 2% on the previous year. Both C&I and C&D rates have stayed relatively steady over the past five years.
Figure 4 breaks down, for each stream, the total tonnes generated and how much was recycled and disposed.
Figure 4
Figure 5 shows the tonnes recycled in 2023–24, organised by waste category and stream.
Figure 5
Waste generation per capita
In 2023–24, an average of 2.53 tonnes of waste was generated per capita, down from 2.68 tonnes in 2022–23. Over the past five years, per capita waste has ranged between 2.52 tonnes (2021–22) and 2.68 tonnes (2022–23).
Per capita MSW has been stable since 2019–20. There was a brief rise to 0.60 tonnes per capita in 2020–21, likely due to COVID-19 restrictions, before returning to 0.55 tonnes in 2023–24.
For the C&D stream waste per capita fell slightly from 0.58 tonnes in 2019–20 to 0.56 tonnes in 2023–24. Finally, C&D waste per capita was 1.42 tonnes in 2023–24, down from 1.52 tonnes in 2022–23.
Figure 6 illustrates per capita waste generation, including total waste and breakdowns by stream, from 2015–16 to 2023–24.