Worrying future – Hungary buried under plastic?

The European Union has set 2020 as the deadline for member states from when they have to recycle half of their total waste. A recent report by the European Commission looked at the current situation, just about a year before the deadline. What they found is pretty depressing and does not reflect well on a number of countries, including Hungary.

The European Commission had to issue an “early warning” to 14 countries, half of the member states, who are particularly lagging behind – reports Kafkadesk. These countries, including Hungary, Slovakia and Poland as well, really need to make changes in their recycling habits in order to make the target deadline in less than two years.

A previous deadline for EU member states was 2016, by which they all had to reduce the landfilling of municipal biodegradable waste to 35% maximum. Half of Europe is still yet to reach this goal, while the next deadline, 2035, when it has to be reduced to 10%, is also fast approaching.

The title of the ‘dirtiest country in Europe’ goes to Malta, as they recycle less than 20% of their overall waste. Romania follows in second place, even though they recycle almost twice as much of their waste as Malta.

In this aspect, Hungary does pretty well actually, recycling about 35% of their total waste. Only Finland and Poland scored better on the list.