Report names Turkey as Europe’s ‘most wasteful country’

ISTANBUL

Turkey has the most wasteful residents in Europe, throwing a mammoth 32.3 million tons of household and commercial waste straight to landfill, according to recently issued research by the U.K.-based Expert Market company.

Expert Market ranked the most wasteful countries by investigating the amount of waste that is dumped straight into landfill sites in 29 European countries. It then calculated how many times each country’s waste would fill the Colosseum, as well as the predicted cost to the taxpayer by 2025.

Accordingly, Turkey is Europe’s “biggest waster,” sending 32.3 million tones of waste to the dump - corresponding to around 58 million m³ volume landfill – which is enough to fill the Colosseum over 44 times. Spain comes second on the list with around 23 m³ volume of landfilled waste, followed by France and Italy with around 18 m³ and 16 m³ respectively.

According to Expert Market, Germany is Europe’s “recycling hero.” Although the country generates the highest volume of total waste in Europe with around 106 million m³, only a fraction of this (approximately 169,000 m3) goes to landfill.

The amount of waste transferred to incinerators and landfill sites in Germany would fill the Colosseum a mere 0.1 times, proving how receptive the German public has been to the country’s innovative recycling initiatives.

The U.K. emerged as the fifth most wasteful nation in Europe, filling the Colosseum over 11 times. Over 20 percent of household rubbish in the U.K. is thrown straight to landfill.

Expert Market’s latest report is the first to put landfill rates in the spotlight to determine which European country is the most wasteful, and also highlights the financial burden that countries will have to bear if they continue at the current rates of landfilling.