The term "municipal waste" includes household waste and similar commercial and industrial waste as well as waste from facilities such as offices, businesses, shops and markets, and street sweepings. The separately collected fractions of waste from these sectors are also classified as municipal waste.

The waste statistics provide information on the quantity, origin and whereabouts of this waste. A summary of the statistics for municipal waste is published annually and made available for download.

In the field of commercial municipal waste, the data are derived from the voluntary survey of waste disposal companies that has been carried out for several years.