The findings of a European assessment on Monday regarding hazardous waste management in Greece offer an interesting contrast.
On the one hand, it ranks among the highest reaches in the EU in terms of waste management as only 1% of the quantities remain untreated, while 91% are recycled. However, it is one of the few countries that has been subject to a fine for hazardous waste.
According to the European Commission it has not yet addressed key shortcomings.
The report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on hazardous waste management was published on Monday in the wake of the ongoing debate on the revision of the Waste Framework Directive.
According to the report, the quantities generated in the EU continue to increase (+23% compared to 2004). Furthermore, 79% of the quantities generated annually end up in some form of management; but there is a significant “gap” (21%) which nobody knows where it ends up. [kathimerini]
People DO know where it ends up – in the abandoned and neglected fields and public land even in the otherwise beautiful forest areas . But people are ‘disuaded’ from protesting and complaining about it because they don’t have (or are too lazy) the means to get rid of it appropriately.