Which countries produce the most waste?
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The amount of urban waste being produced is growing faster than the rate of urbanisation, according to the World Bank’s report What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management.
By 2025 there will be 1.4 billion more people living in cities worldwide, with each person producing an average of 1.42kg of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day – more than double the current average of 0.64kg per day.
Annual worldwide urban waste is estimated to more than triple, from 0.68 to 2.2 billion tonnes per year.
The top producers of MSW were small island nations, including Trinidad & Tobago (14.40 kg/capita/day), Antigua and Barbuda (5.5kg) and St Kitts and Nevis (5.45kg), Sri Lanka (5.10kg), Barbados (4.75kg), St Lucia (4.35kg) and the Solomon Islands (4.30kg). Guyana (5.33kg) and Kuwait (5.72kg) also scored highly.
The worldwide average is 1.2kg.
New Zealand (3.68kg), Ireland (3.58kg), Norway (2.80kg), Switzerland (2.61kg) and the United States (2.58kg) were the top five producers in the de...
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