Swiss among most wasteful in Europe
The Swiss create mountains of rubbish annually and are second only to the Danes in the amount they throw away.
New statistics issued by the European statistics authority, Eurostat, show the Swiss threw away 730 kg per person in 2014 – 28 kg per head more than the year before.
Only the Danes (760 kg) binned more.
Romania, Poland and Latvia were the most waste-conscious, throwing out less than 300 kg per person.
The data covers the EU and the EFTA countries Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, and includes household as well as industrial waste.
In the EU as a whole the amount of rubbish created has been falling for several consecutive years and averaged 475 kg in 2014.
In 17 of the 31 countries studied, the amount of municipal waste generated per head increased between 1995 and 2014.
Eurostat said the variations between the countries reflect differences in consumption patterns and economic wealth, but also depend on how municipal waste is collected and managed.
According to the Federal Office of the Environment the growing population and increasing wealth of Switzerland has led to a doubling of municipal waste in the past 30 years, the Swiss news agency sda reported.
In 2006 it passed the six million ton mark for the first time. But 54 percent of this could be recycled, the federal office said.
Although Switzerland has a good reputation for recycling it lags behind European-leader Germany.
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New statistics issued by the European statistics authority, Eurostat, show the Swiss threw away 730 kg per person in 2014 – 28 kg per head more than the year before.
Only the Danes (760 kg) binned more.
Romania, Poland and Latvia were the most waste-conscious, throwing out less than 300 kg per person.
The data covers the EU and the EFTA countries Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, and includes household as well as industrial waste.
In the EU as a whole the amount of rubbish created has been falling for several consecutive years and averaged 475 kg in 2014.
In 17 of the 31 countries studied, the amount of municipal waste generated per head increased between 1995 and 2014.
Eurostat said the variations between the countries reflect differences in consumption patterns and economic wealth, but also depend on how municipal waste is collected and managed.
According to the Federal Office of the Environment the growing population and increasing wealth of Switzerland has led to a doubling of municipal waste in the past 30 years, the Swiss news agency sda reported.
In 2006 it passed the six million ton mark for the first time. But 54 percent of this could be recycled, the federal office said.
Although Switzerland has a good reputation for recycling it lags behind European-leader Germany.
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