The figures on garbage and emissions
– An estimated 3,163 kilos of waste, 372 kilos of urban waste and 350 tons of toxic waste are produced per inhabitant annually. – Less than 8 percent of waste produced is recycled or processed. The rest of it is dumped on the 1,300 illegal waste disposal sites, often close to inhabited or protected areas. – Carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant have increased by 25 percent since 1990. In addition, methane emissions have risen by 25 percent since 1990, nitrogen dioxide by 17 percent and sulfur dioxide by 7 percent. – One of the chief causes of pollution is the rapid increase in private vehicle ownership and the parallel abandonment of environmentally friendly means of transport, such as trains. Currently there are 254 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, an increase of 54 percent in relation to 1990. By 2005, an estimated 5 million vehicles of every kind will be in circulation in Athens alone. EEA (European Environment Agency)
