Denemarken produceert meeste afval in Europa (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The average European produced half a tonne of rubbish in 2007, new data has shown, with the thrifty Czechs throwing away the least and the not-so-thrifty Danes the most.
Across the 27 EU member states, 522kg of waste from households and small businesses - termed 'municipal waste' to distinguish it from agricultural and industrial waste - was generated per person, according to figures from Eurostat i, the EU's statistics office.
But the amount of rubbish thrown away varies considerably from state to state. Denmark was by some distance the worst offender, dumping on the kerb some 801kg in 2007, although Ireland and Cyprus also managed to produce over 750kg of detritus per person.
On the whole, those who threw out the most come from the western, wealthier member states, while the garbage-light nations were found mostly in the east.
The least refuse - weighing in at under 400kg per person on average - was produced by Romania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, with the latter scooping the prize for the lightest manufacturer of junk, while Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia and Lithuania yielded between 400 and 500kg of trash.
In the middle, Austria, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Estonia, Sweden and Finland produced between 500 and 600 kg per person.
Some 42 percent of this waste is simply landfilled and 20 percent incinerated, but 22 percent is recycled and a full 17 of waste is composted.
The waste is also treated in different ways across the bloc. Germany, Belgium and Sweden recycle the most, and Ireland and Estonia are also big recyclers, while in other countries, very little recycling occurs at all. In Poland, 90 percent of waste is landfilled, in Malta 93 percent, and in Lithuania 96 percent.
The worst recycler in Europe however is Bulgaria, which landfills a full 100 percent of its municipal waste.
Denmark meanwhile, not only produces more rubbish than anyone else, it also incinerates more garbage than the rest of Europe too, with 53 percent of its litter being burnt. Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Belgium are all big incinerators, although in 11 member states, there is no incineration at all.
Composting of municipal waste was most common in Austria, clocking in at 38 percent of its municipal waste, as well as Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, while no one composts anything in Bulgaria, Cyprus or Romania.