Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation statistics - NACE Rev. 2

From Statistics Explained

Jump to: navigation, search
Data from June 2011, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database

This article presents an overview of structural statistics such as turnover, personnel cost, employment and productivity, for European Union (EU) water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, covering NACE Rev. 2 Section E.

Water supply refers to the collection, purification, desalinisation and distribution of water. Sewerage activities concern the operation of sewer systems or sewage treatment facilities that collect, treat, and dispose of sewage. Water supply activities are often carried out in conjunction with, or by units also engaged in, the treatment of sewage.

The sector also includes the management of other forms of waste, whether solid or non-solid, industrial or household - including the dismantling of wrecks and the operation of materials recovery facilities. Finally, it also covers remediation activities such as decontamination (see Data sources and availability, Coverage for a more detailed description of activities in NACE Section E).

Table 1: Key indicators, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 1: Sectoral breakdown of activity, EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of employment within water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E))
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 2: Sectoral breakdown of expenditure, productivity and profitability, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 2: Relative importance of water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2008 (1)
(% share of value added and employment in the non-financial business economy total)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 3: Concentration of employment, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2008
(cumulative share of the five principal Member States as a % of the EU-27 total)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 3: Principal Member States and most specialised Member States, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2008 (1)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 4: Key indicators, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 5: Key regional indicators, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2008 (1)
(top 20 NUTS 2 regions, based on % share of non-financial business economy workforce)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)
Figure 4: Degree of regional employment specialisation, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2008 (1)
(% share of non-financial business economy workforce by NUTS 2 region)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)
Table 6: Sectoral breakdown of regional employment, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2008 (1)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)
Table 7: Key size class indicators, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), EU-27, 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_ind_r2)
Figure 5: Sectoral breakdown of value added by enterprise size class, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of sectoral value added)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 6: Sectoral breakdown of employment by enterprise size class, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), EU-27, 2008 (1)
(% share of sectoral employment)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Table 8: Number of enterprises by enterprise size class, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2008
Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_ind_r2)

Contents

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

There were 60 000 thousand enterprises classified to water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (Section E) in the EU-27 in 2008, which together employed 1.3 million persons and generated EUR 218 100 million of turnover. Enterprises in this sector were, on average, relatively large (in employment and turnover terms), as the sector contributed only 0.3 % of all enterprises in the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95), but accounted for 0.9 % of the workforce and the same share of turnover. Compared with the other NACE sections within the non-financial business economy this sector was the smallest in terms of turnover and the third smallest in terms of the number of enterprises (larger than mining and quarrying as well as electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, Sections B and D). Value added data is incomplete but excluding the dismantling of wrecks (Class 38.31) the sector generated EUR 81 300 million of value added in the EU-27 in 2008, around 1.3 % of the non-financial business economy total.

The level of tangible investment made by the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in 2008 reached EUR 32 400 million in the EU-27, equivalent to 3.2 % of all tangible investment made in the non-financial business economy, a much greater share than the sector’s contribution to employment, turnover or value added.

Average personnel costs within the EU-27’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector were EUR 31.9 thousand per employee in 2008, slightly above the EUR 30.9 thousand per employee average in the non-financial business economy. Apparent labour productivity in the sector (excluding the dismantling of wrecks) was EUR 65 thousand per person employed, about 45 % above the non-financial business economy average. The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio gives an idea of the extent to which labour productivity per person relates to average personnel costs. For the EU-27's water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in 2008 the ratio was 200 % showing that the value of output per person was twice as high as the average cost of personnel input; this was well above the non-financial business economy average (146.3 %) and one of the highest ratios among the NACE sections within the non-financial business economy.

Sectoral analysis

In employment terms, waste and materials recovery (Division 38) was the largest subsector in the EU-27, occupying nearly three fifths (57.8 %) of the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector’s workforce in 2008 – see Figure 1. This large share was principally due to the size of the workforce in waste collection (Group 38.1) which alone accounted for one third (32.9 %) of the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector’s workforce. Water supply (Division 36) was the second largest subsector with a 29.2 % share, followed by sewerage (Division 37) with 10.3 %; remediation activities and other waste management services (Division 39) was the smallest subsector with a 2.7 % share.

The various activities shown in Table 2 (mixture of divisions and groups) can be split between those with high and low apparent labour productivity. Within the EU-27 waste collection as well as remediation activities and other waste management services recorded value added below EUR 50 thousand per person employed in 2008 while the other activities recorded value added of EUR 80 thousand per person employed or more, peaking at EUR 93 thousand for the sewerage subsector. In contrast, there was less variability in average personnel costs: waste collection (EUR 29.4 thousand per employee) and materials recovery (Group 38.3, EUR 29.8 thousand) recorded average personnel costs just below the non-financial business economy average; most other activities recorded average personnel costs just above the non-financial business economy average with waste treatment and disposal (Group 38.2) recording the highest level (EUR 37.0 thousand per employee). As a result of the relatively narrow range of average personnel costs the ranking of activities according to their wage adjusted labour productivity ratios broadly reflected the level of apparent labour productivity. The highest ratio was recorded for the sewerage subsector (273.5 %) and the lowest for the remediation activities and other waste management services subsector (140.0 %), although this was only slightly below the non-financial business economy average (146.3 %).

Investment in tangible goods by the EU-27’s water supply subsector reached EUR 16 000 million in 2008, around half the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector’s total, while the EUR 9 500 million investment in the waste and materials recovery subsector accounted for a further 29.2 %.

Country analysis

As for electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector contributed a relatively large share of the non-financial business economy workforce in a number of Member States in central and eastern Europe. This sector provided employment to 1.5 % or more of the non-financial business economy workforce in Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. In Cyprus, Luxembourg and Ireland this sector contributed 0.5 % or less of the non-financial business economy workforce. In most Member States this sector accounted for a greater share of the non-financial business economy in value added terms than employment, with the main exceptions being Slovakia, Romania and Luxembourg. Much greater shares in value added terms were recorded in Cyprus, the United Kingdom and Spain, in all of these cases more than double the employment share, indicating particularly high apparent labour productivity relative to the EU-27 average.

Table 3 shows that there are a number of country-specific specialisations. Among the Member States Spain accounted for close to half of the EU-27’s value added in remediation activities and other waste management services in 2008 while the United Kingdom had the highest value added in the water supply sector, alone accounting for one third of EU-27 value added in this subsector.

In absolute terms Germany and Italy had the largest workforces in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector, each with more than 170 thousand persons employed (note there is no employment data available for France). In terms of value added however, the United Kingdom had by far the largest sector, generating EUR 18 500 million in 2008, approximately double the value added in France and Italy (note there is no value added data available for Germany). These very different levels are reflected in the apparent labour productivity figures with the United Kingdom averaging value added of EUR 132.0 thousand per person employed in this sector, far ahead of the second highest value, EUR 95.5 thousand per person employed in Belgium. Despite average personnel costs somewhat above the EU-27 average, the United Kingdom still recorded the highest wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio in this sector (322.2 %), followed by Cyprus (299.9 %). As well as high productivity, the United Kingdom had high investment in this sector, accounting for more than one quarter (28.0 %) of the total EU-27 investment in this sector. Relative to value added several Member States had extremely high levels of investment, for example in Belgium, Cyprus and the three Baltic Member States investment was higher than value added in 2008.

Regional analysis

As a whole, the share of water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities in non-financial business economy employment is concentrated within a narrow range, comparable with that in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply. There are very few regions with a high degree of specialisation in these activities – see Table 6. Even in the most specialised region, namely Východné Slovensko in Slovakia, the share of non-financial business economy employment in this sector only reached 2.9 %.

Size class analysis

The enterprise size structure of the EU-27’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector was less dominated by large enterprises (with 250 or more persons employed) than the mining and quarrying sector or the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector. Nevertheless large enterprises in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector still employed a greater share of the workforce (47.4 %) in 2008 than the enterprises in any of the three other size classes shown in Figure 6 and more than the average share (33.3 %) in the non-financial business economy as a whole.

The share of large enterprises was greatest in the water supply subsector, where they employed 62.5 % of the workforce, while the share of the workforce in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs, with less than 250 persons employed) was over 50 % in the other subsectors. Within the waste and materials recovery subsector the activity of materials recovery had a particularly high share of the workforce in SMEs, totalling 84.5 %.

Among the Member States the relative importance of SMEs and large enterprises reflects to some extent their specialisations. For example the United Kingdom recorded the highest value added share and second highest employment share of large enterprises in 2008, reflecting in part its specialisation in water supply. High shares of employment in large enterprises were also recorded in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania, all 60 % or more. In contrast medium-sized enterprises (with 50 to 249 persons employed) employed more than half the workforce in Lithuania and Slovenia. Small enterprises (with 10 to 49 persons employed) provided nearly half (48.4 %) of the workforce in this sector in Cyprus where a further one fifth of the workforce was employed in micro enterprises (with less than 10 persons employed), a situation that was also observed in Denmark.

Data sources and availability

Coverage

This article presents an overview of statistics for EU water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, covering NACE Rev. 2 Section E.

  • Water supply (Division 36) concerns the collection, purification, desalinisation and distribution of water. Some water, particularly when used in production processes, does not come from the public water supply system, but rather is extracted directly from its source. The (typically long distance) transport of water via pipelines is excluded.
  • Sewerage activities (Division 37) concern the operation of sewer systems or sewage treatment facilities that collect, treat, and dispose of sewage. Activities of water supply are often carried out in connection with, or by units also engaged in, the treatment of sewage.
  • As well as sewage, this sector includes activities related to the management (including collection, treatment and disposal) of other forms of waste (Division 38), whether solid or non-solid waste, industrial or household waste, including the dismantling of wrecks and the operation of materials recovery facilities. Materials recovery includes the processing of metal and non-metal waste and scrap and articles into secondary raw material: the processing may involve a number of stages such as separating, sorting, crushing, shredding, cutting, melting, grinding, pressing, stripping, cleaning and composting. The output of the waste or sewage treatment process can either be disposed of or become an input into other production processes. Materials recovery does not extend to the production of new final products nor does it include wholesaling of recoverable materials. Materials recovery does not cover reprocessing of nuclear fuels. Note also that substantial materials recovery may be carried out by enterprises as ancillary activities, without the involvement of enterprises in the waste management subsector.
  • Finally, the sector also includes remediation activities (Division 39) such as decontamination.

Data sources

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main datasets for structural business statistics (SBS) which are disseminated annually. The three data sets used are:

  • the national series which have the most detailed analysis by activity according to the activity classification NACE and the widest range of variables;
  • the regional series which provide an analysis at 2-digit level of the regional classification NUTS;
  • the size class series which provide an analysis based on five size classes reflecting the number of persons employed.

Context

The organisation of water supply within the EU varies between Member States, with state-owned, private and mutual enterprises, as well as municipalities involved in terms of the ownership or operation of infrastructure. Among the key issues that affect this sector are the quality of drinking water, and the efficient use of water resources, the latter concerning issues such as pricing, repair of leakages, metering of water use, and water-efficient practices. Furthermore, the cost of related services (such as wastewater collection and treatment) is an important factor, as is the impact of changes in consumption patterns, for example, the increased use of water related to growth in tourism particularly in areas with scarce water resources.

Adopted in 2000, the Water framework Directive provides the basis for water policy within the EU. The Framework Directive is built on four main pillars:

  • coordinated action to achieve ‘good status’ for all EU waters, including surface and groundwater, by 2015;
  • setting up a water-management system based on natural river basin districts, crossing regional and national boundaries – at the time of writing most but not all of the river basin management plans have been adopted;
  • integrated water management, bringing different water management issues into one framework;
  • active involvement of interested parties and consultation of the public.

In 2006 and early 2007 the European Commission carried out an assessment of water scarcity and droughts in the EU. Based on this, in July 2007 it proposed an initial set of policy options to increase water efficiency and water savings in the form of the Communication Addressing the challenge of water scarcity and droughts in the European Union (COM/2007/0414 final). Seven policy options were identified for tackling water scarcity and drought issues:

  • putting the right price tag on water;
  • allocating water and water-related funding more efficiently;
  • improving drought risk management;
  • considering additional water supply infrastructures;
  • fostering water efficient technologies and practices;
  • fostering the emergence of a water-saving culture;
  • improving knowledge and data collection.

The EU’s sixth environment action programme (EAP) runs from 2002 to 2012 and identifies waste prevention and management as one of four top priorities. Its primary objective is to decouple waste generation from economic activity.

In November 2008 a Waste framework Directive was adopted which introduces a binding five-step waste hierarchy where prevention is the preferred option followed by re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery, with disposal such as landfill used only as the last resort. Unless properly regulated, the disposal of waste may have a serious environmental impact: landfills, for example, can take up land space and may cause air, water and soil pollution, while incineration can result in emissions of dangerous air pollutants.

EU policy aims to move waste management up the waste hierarchy taking into account the environmental impacts over the entire life cycle. Waste prevention can be achieved through cleaner technologies, better design, or more efficient production and consumption patterns; as well as reducing waste these preventative actions may lead to reductions in resource consumption throughout production and distribution chains.

EU legislation sets binding targets for Member States on the recovery and recycling/re-use of municipal waste, batteries, electrical and electronic waste, construction and demolition waste, end-of-life vehicles and packaging.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

SBS - industry and construction (sbs_ind_co)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics - industry and construction (sbs_na_ind)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics for industry (NACE Rev.2 B-E) (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Preliminary results on industry and construction, main indicators (NACE Rev.2) (sbs_na_r2preli)
SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics broken down by size classes - industry and construction (sbs_sc_ind)
Industry broken down by employment size classes (NACE Rev.2 B-E) (sbs_sc_ind_r2)
SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)
Regional data (NACE Rev.2) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Dedicated section

Other information

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

External links

See also

Retrieved from "http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Water_supply,_sewerage,_waste_management_and_remediation_statistics_-_NACE_Rev._2"
In other languages
  • English
Create a book