When we think about Europe, we typically bring about images of famous landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower or Buckingham Palace. What we don't think about are the more disturbing things like landfills - and Europe has a lot of them.
Everyone has their share of total waste management problems, but what is the European Union doing about theirs?
Are they trying to act on the problem, or are they just chilling and watching it happen.
Well, it may surprise you to learn what's going on with the waste in the EU. Read on to find out where they stand - and the steps they're taking to fix it.
It Needs to do Better With Recycling
Overall, the European Union is doing a good job of progressing in its waste management. However, they still have a long way to go
Each year, the European economy chucks away materials such as metals, wood, glass, paper, and plastics. These materials are perfect for recycling, yet the EU struggles in the department of secondary raw materials.
In 2010, it was recorded that a total of only 36% of waste was recycled, with the rest going to landfills or being burned.
Municipal Waste is Low on the Scale
Surprisingly, although Europe doesn't do too hot on the recycling scale, they also don't have that much waste produced by the people themselves.
Although it's been recorded that an average of 2.5 billion tons of waste is generated each year (woah!) less than a tenth of that is municipal waste.
In other words, the residents are clean, but the companies and the government...not so much.
Austria Leads in Total Waste Management
As if Austria wasn't cool enough, now they've taken things a step further.
Austria is currently number one in the EU when it comes to recycling, leading Europe in the way of reusable materials.
They may not hold the position for long, however: Belgium is a very close second, with Bulgaria taking third.
They're Pushing for a Circular Economy
This is a pretty major deal for all of the European Union.
Majority of the countries in the EU are trying very hard to create a society where 100% of the waste produced is recycled. This, of course, will allow them to manage their waste very responsibly as a result.
In turn, this is also going to be a great way to help the environment, allowing people to breathe easier and creating a healthier landscape. This leads to another important goal of the European Union...
The 7th Environment Action Programme is a Thing
First off, we know it sounds super official. Second off, it is.
The 7th Environment Action Programme is a group effort by the EU to fix up the environment by cleaning up the ever-increasing mess in the participating countries.
The efforts of the program are as follows:
- To reduce the amount of waste;
- To maximize the efforts of recycling and re-use;
- To limit the incineration of non-recyclable materials;
- To get rid of the act of landfilling and transition to non-recyclable and non-recoverable waste, and;
- To ensure full implementation of the waste policy in all Member States.
Sounds like a pretty big plan, right? Well, the European Union is going to make these plans into big goals, and it could happen sooner than you think.
Majority of the Waste Comes from Mining and Quarrying
Well, now we know exactly what causes the most of the waste around here.
Mining and quarrying are two things that are important to the European economy (although they're slowly going out of style due to the tyranny of electronics) but they're also a two-edged sword on the countries involved.
Not only do mining and quarrying directly affect the environment, they also create 90% of the waste in the countries each year, and the landfills (and the people) suffer for it.
Employment Through Recycling is a Thing
This is something that we all should consider, even in America.
It's a pretty simple idea overall: the European Union needs to get rid of waste, and it needs people to do it. These people become workers, which in turn helps to stimulate the economy.
The more recycling and waste removal programs are created, the more jobs are created, which will get the economy moving as you clean up the land.
How neat is that?
Food Waste is a Major Factor
In most European countries, food waste is a big deal. So big, in fact, that it's almost the leading cause of waste in the EU.
This should come as no surprise. Most developed countries in the world seem to have a problem with responsibly dealing with their food waste, and more often than not the food is actually good.
In a desperate bid to benefit themselves, companies would rather throw away food than use the leftovers to help others. This leads to a lot of food being wasted, among other things.
Fighting food waste could be another way to clean up the land while potentially bringing food to those who need it. How's that for a one-two punch?
Landfilling as a Whole is Beginning to Decrease
Even though the majority of Europeans countries are still relying on landfills to take care of the dirty work, as a whole the use of landfills is going down.
Between 2004 and 2014, landfilling decreased substantially in almost all countries in the EU, including the United Kingdom (by 41 percent) Slovenia (also by 41 percent) and Estonia (by a whopping 57 percent!)
Overall, even though it's clear that the EU has a lot of work ahead of itself, we can say with confidence that they're definitely going in the right direction - and the rest of the world would do good to follow suit.
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