Nearly a fifth of all the waste this country produces is plastic, and yet only 1% is recycled. Greece is at least 15 years behind the rest of the EU in almost all areas of recycling and is unlikely to reach the EU targets for next year.
In Athens, the recycling bins so common in most European cities are rare to see. Although the authorities have recently launched new schemes, the impact so far appears to be minimal.
Recycling is simply not high on the list of priorities for the average Athenian.
Most household rubbish bags contain large amounts of glass, metal, paper and plastic that end up being dumped in the city’s only landfill which, unsurprisingly, is now nearly full.
As a result, the capital is currently facing a severe waste management crisis because no alternative sites have been established.
Ironically, the city has what is believed to be the largest recycling plant in Europe, built next to the landfill four years ago. But the plant, which is estimated to have cost at least 75 million euros (£50 million), has lain dormant.
The reason? She was badly damaged by a mountain of debris that collapsed on top of her.
In Italy, waste disposal regulations vary from district to district. In Rome, the rules are among the strictest in Italy. People who do not separate their rubbish can be fined up to 619 euros if they have a recycling container less than 500 meters from their front door.
The Romans often state that it is difficult to find a container and even more difficult to find one that is not full. The council has commissioned 2,500 new litter bins. They are color coded green for household waste, white for paper, and blue for plastic.
The streets of the historic center of Rome hardly have any recycling bins yet. The streets are cleaned very efficiently, with vehicles going over the debris and sucking it up like huge self-propelled vacuum cleaners.
In southern Italy, local politicians claim that the waste management industry is controlled by organized crime. In 2014, the European Commission said it was taking action against Italy for 28 breaches of EU environmental laws. He said that Italy was denying its citizens the same quality of life enjoyed by people in other EU countries.
In Senegal, on the other hand, recycling is not carried out on an industrial scale, but is part of the daily life of many resourceful Senegalese.
Everything is recycled, from plastic bags to school notebooks, food cans, mineral water bottles and even fruit peels. The shell is said to be collected for use in cheap perfumes.
Tomato cans are turned into drinking glasses in rural areas or used by beggars on the streets, old newspapers and administrative documents are used to wrap the bread, fruit or peanuts you buy on the street.
Some artisans also use scrap metal to produce anything from chairs to kitchen utensils to children’s toys.
Plastic bags are used to make shoes. In the old days, worn tires used to be made into sandals, but now they are much less popular.
Recently some smart people have started collecting all the scrap metal they can find to send it back to factories in Europe.
Swiss waste disposal company Alcyon has signed a government contract worth more than $9 million to collect and treat rubbish in the capital, Dakar. The project is being managed by AMA-Senegal, which will remove a large landfill called Mbeubeuss and recycle much of the city’s waste.
Recycling is really important, our planet is already ‘sick’ and if we don’t recycle, the problems of human civilization will only get worse.
Recycling is important to both the natural environment and us humans alike.
Time is truly running out for us as a global community, it is everyone’s responsibility, as individuals and businesses, to recycle any waste they produce.
