On April 10, 2024, the Belgian political party ‘Groen’ published an article on their website claiming that 35% of all waste in the European Union originates from the construction sector. The claim turns out to be true.
The party published this article following the passage of a new law in the European Parliament. According to Sara Matthieu, rapporteur in the Environment Committee of the European Parliament and party member of ‘Groen’, this law is considered indispensable within the European Green Deal.
In the article, they outline the impact of the construction sector on the environment in the European Union. The content of the article aligns with the positions of ‘Groen’, as it is a left-wing party committed to environmental causes. To underline this, they use different percentages to show the impact of the construction sector on the environment in Europe. One of these is the claim that 35% of all waste originates from that sector.
Upon contacting ‘Groen’, it was revealed that their figures were based on a press release from the European Commission, which stated that the percentage was more than 35%. Further contact with the European Commission provided a link to the online datasets of the European bureau of statistics, Eurostat. The dataset included all waste divided into categories according to different economic activities, making it straightforward to calculate the proportion of construction waste relative to all waste produced in the European Union. The calculation (807 170 000 / 2 153 950 000 * 100) resulted in 37,47% of waste produced by construction.
This aligns with the claim in the press release from the European Commission where they stated that the construction sector is responsible for over 35% of the EU’s total waste generation. However, Groen didn’t add the nuance that it was more than 35% of the total waste generation in the article on their website.
But what does construction waste entail? This is further explained in the European Waste Catalogue and in this research document. According to the European Waste Catalogue you can divide construction (and demolition) waste according to type and nature of the activity. The first category is public works and roadworks. This type of construction results in concrete, broken asphalt, pebbles but also excavated materials such as soil. The second category can be described as building works from residential, school and more sectors. This category includes similar kinds of waste, but also some additional types. For example, plastic, insulation materials including asbestos, paper and carton, plastic, and more.
According to Jasper Wouters, lecturer in data journalism, and Maarten Lambrechts, data journalist and data designer, the claim of ‘Groen’ is mostly true. There are no set rules about publishing figures in the press. The general guideline is that exact figures should not be used, but if you do decide to round off, you look at the second number after the decimal point and see whether it is higher or lower than 5.
“In this case, it is certainly correct to round 37.47% to ‘more than 35%’, ‘38%’ or ‘nearly 40%”, says Jasper Wouters. According to Maarten Lambrechts, the choice of 35% could perhaps be because they wanted to be sure and not exaggerate. Or it could have been simply taken from the European Commission’s press release without the nuance of ‘more than’.
In short, the claim is true. Both figures, namely 35% and 37.47%, are too close to each other to label the statement as ‘wrong’. Moreover, there are no set rules showing how to correctly publish figures in the press.
RESEARCH | ARTICLE © Irene Dupon, Lieff Mart and Sita Vandenberghe, Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, Belgium
Leave your comments, thoughts and suggestions in the box below. Take note: your response is moderated.
