Figures tell a bleak story
Currently, about 5 million tons of garbage are produced in Greece every year, an amount that is steadily increasing. In 1997, daily output of solid urban waste was 0.97 kilograms per person, in 2001 it had grown to 1.20 and in 2005 it was 1.41 kg (the average for the European Union is 1.48 kg per person). The Attica Region produces 40 percent of all solid waste, the Central Macedonia Region 16 percent, followed by Thessaly with 5.2 percent. There has been an impressive increase in volume of nearly 33 percent over the past 20 years which is expected to touch 8-10 percent over the next 10 years. In the same period, paper and plastic waste is expected to increase by 20 percent.
