Andorra's Waste Drops 2.7% to 168,732 Tonnes in 2025 Amid Stable Environmental Indicators

Andorra produced 168,732 tonnes of waste in 2025, a 2.7% reduction from 2024, driven by a 4.4% decline in non-urban waste from industrial and construction sectors. Urban waste rose 1.5% to 51,092 tonnes, consistent with a 2% increase in equivalent population—factoring in residents and tourists—to between 120,000 and 130,000 people.

Environment Minister Guillem Casal and Sílvia Ferrer, director of the Environment and Sustainability department, outlined the 2025 environmental indicators during a Tuesday press conference in Andorra la Vella. Casal highlighted the results as proof of the nation's strong environmental standards, one of its main strengths, and urged shared accountability across government, parishes, and residents to maintain them. He noted parishes handle selective collection while the government manages final treatment, with costs including €8-10 million for parish collection and €4 million for the Waste Treatment Centre, excluding exports.

Around 75% of waste (125,000 tonnes) required export due to limited local capacity for materials like paints and hazardous gases. The remaining 26% (43,241 tonnes) received domestic processing, plus 9,284 tonnes of urban solid waste from Cerdanya under cross-border agreements. Recycling held steady since 2022, topped by paper and cardboard at 7,284 tonnes, glass at 2,165 tonnes, light packaging at 1,533 tonnes, and organic matter at roughly 1,300 tonnes—up from 1,266 tonnes thanks to expanded collection points. Casal described overall waste levels as stable and not concerning but stressed the need to generate less to sustain quality, adding that parishes are now tendering a new selective collection model with innovative methods to boost recovery rates. A later assessment framed urban waste growth as a key challenge tied to daily population activity.

Water quality remained steady, with 72% of 37 monitoring stations across 468 samples showing good physicochemical quality and none poor—the second year in a row. Biological assessments at 18 autumn stations rated 94.5% good or excellent, the ninth consecutive year without very poor sites. Drinking water use stayed at about 145 litres per equivalent person daily, below the 150-litre circular economy law limit for the third year. The Andorra Sanitation Plan ensures nearly 100% wastewater treatment. Casal explained consumptive uses like households and agriculture represent just 4% of available water resources (13% of used water), with most allocated to non-consumptive purposes such as hydropower.

Air quality matched 2024 levels, excellent or good for 85.9% of the year across five stations (three fixed, two mobile). The 2.2% poor periods resulted from external factors: Saharan dust, smoke from northwest Spain wildfires, and summer tropospheric ozone, which has stayed under EU limits since 2017.

Noise complied at 90% of stations, with 7% deviations from temporary issues like construction, traffic, or isolated events in Andorra la Vella and Sant Julià de Lòria. Ferrer attributed these to short-term causes.