In 2023, 22.5 million tons of hazardous waste were generated in Germany.

As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday, the amount of hazardous waste fell by 2.4 percent or 0.6 million tonnes compared to 2022 (23.1 million tonnes) and reached its lowest level since 2015 (22.3 million tonnes). Hazardous waste is waste with specific hazardous characteristics that pose a threat to humans and the environment. For example, it can be oxidizing, carcinogenic, or irritating.

They must be accompanied by accompanying documents and must be disposed of using special disposal routes and procedures that ensure the safe and environmentally friendly destruction of the pollutants they contain. By waste type, construction and demolition waste accounted for the largest share of the total hazardous waste, as in previous years. In 2023, it accounted for 8.6 million tonnes, or 38.4 percent of the total. The second largest amount came from waste treatment plants, public wastewater treatment plants, and the treatment of water for human consumption and industrial purposes (including sewage treatment plants and waterworks), totaling 7.0 million tonnes, or 31.0 percent. In 2022, the shares of both waste types were 40.2 percent (9.3 million tonnes) and 29.3 percent (6.8 million tonnes) of the total hazardous waste, respectively. In 2023, as in previous years, the majority of hazardous waste was generated in two economic sectors: 9.1 million tonnes, or 40.3 percent, of the waste came from the "Water supply; wastewater and waste disposal and remediation of environmental pollution" sector (2022: 9.4 million tonnes; 40.8 percent). This includes, for example, disposal facilities such as landfills or plants for the treatment of liquid and water-based waste containing organic substances, which, if improperly disposed of, can indirectly enter water bodies and thus the environment via wastewater. 4.9 million tonnes, or 21.5 percent of hazardous waste (2022: 4.7 million tonnes; 20.4 percent), came from the "Manufacturing" sector, particularly from plants manufacturing machinery, metal products, and chemicals. In 2023, 16.1 million tonnes (71.6 percent) of hazardous waste came from primary producers, where the waste was generated for the first time within their own operations. This was 5.3 percent, or 0.9 million tonnes, less than in 2022. 6.4 million tonnes (28.4 percent) were so-called secondary waste generated from interim storage facilities or from waste disposal companies, where the waste was not originally generated. The amount of hazardous waste here decreased by 5.5 percent, or 0.3 million tonnes, compared to 2022.