Greece and Malta rank at the bottom among European Union Member States in waste management and recycling, according to data provided by the Technical Chamber of Greece.
According to estimates by industry experts, 80 percent of garbage goes to landfills, while only 20 percent of recyclable materials are going to recycling.
These figures are a far cry from the goal of recycling 50 percent of municipal waste by 2020 that the EU has set. Greece has been granted a five-year extension (until 2025) to achieve this goal.
According to industry experts, a total investment of 2.5 billion euros will have to be made to change the gloomy state of waste management in the country.