July 15, 2019 - 15:07 AMT
Armenia ranked world's sixth per-capita producer of waste

Armenia is the sixth country in the world in terms of the waste produced in the country per capita, USA Today says using data by 24/7 Tempo and the World Bank’s “What a Waste” global database.

The daily summed for each country the metric tons (or tonnes) of waste in the latest year for which data was available in the special categories of agricultural waste, construction and demolition, e waste, hazardous waste, industrial waste, medical waste, and the total municipal solid waste (msw).

Armenia's estimated annual waste per capita amounts to 16.3 metric tons, data reveal.

Armenia produces relatively little municipal waste, with nearly 493,000 tons in 2014. It also ranks among the countries producing the least amount of agricultural and construction waste. However, what contributes to Armenia’s rank among the world's biggest producers of waste is the huge amount of industrial waste it produces. Of the nearly 48 million tons of total waste the country produces, 47.3 million is industrial.

Armenia does not have processing plants or specialized sites to treat and bury waste, partly explaining its waste problem. Its first solid waste landfill has been in the making since 2011. The country’s garbage is currently being disposed of at uncontrolled dumpsites from which toxins escape into the air in the form of methane gas.

Canada's estimated total waste generation is the highest in the world. The country produced 1.33 billion metric tonnes of waste, or 36.1 tonnes per person.

Bulgaria and the United States follow in the second and third spots, respectively.