IRELAND GENERATES the fourth highest amount of municipal waste per person in the EU and has twice the average amount of unaccounted-for rubbish, according to latest figures from the European Commission.
Cyprus generated the most waste, with 760kg by each person, while Luxembourg had 678kg each. Denmark was third with 673kg, followed by Ireland at 636kg. Cyprus sent 80 per cent of waste to landfill, considered by the EU to be the least environmentally friendly disposal route.
Luxembourg and Denmark had among the lowest levels of landfilling, with Luxembourg at 18 per cent and Denmark just 3 per cent.
Denmark had the highest level of incineration in the EU, at 54 per cent. Luxembourg was sixth highest, incinerating 35 per cent.
Ireland buried 57 per cent and incinerated 4 per cent, Eurostat figures from 2010 show. Some 35 per cent of Irish municipal waste was recycled compared with 26 per cent in Luxembourg and 23 per cent in Denmark.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s unaccounted-for waste was more than twice the EU average.
Across the EU just over 3 per cent of waste was not sent for disposal of any kind. In Ireland that figure was 7.8 per cent
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/0bcd259b-2f01-4cec-ad76-961379866d32.png)