The column graph illustrates the average amount of waste, measured in million tonnes, that was dealt with using three methods—landfill, burning, and sea dumping—in a particular European country from 2005 to 2008.
Overall, a specific European nation saw a decrease in landfill waste usage, while the method of burning rose consistently, and sea dumping of waste management remained relatively steady over time. Notably, landfill remained the highest among the three methods, except for the year 2008, when it was surpassed by burning.
Looking first at the disposal method that witnessed the most pronounced changes, landfill began as the leading method with 1800 million tonnes in 2005, falling to 600 million tonnes in 2008. Landfill usage gradually went down over the years; in 2006, this figure decreased by 600 million tonnes from the initial year and continued to decline in 2007 at 1100 million tonnes. A large amount of trash was disposed of in landfills, which initially peaked in 2005 and showed a threefold decrease by the end of the period.
In contrast, the use of burning exhibited a reverse trend, while dumping at sea remained unchanged throughout the four years. In 2005, burning was the least used among the three methods, with 500 million tonnes of waste. Burning usage outnumbered landfill to become the most popular method of waste disposal and reached 900 million tonnes in 2008. Unlike the previous two methods, sea dumping remained the same for the first three years, but this method started to decrease slightly in 2008, with approximately 550 million tonnes of trash treated. Dumping at sea was not a common method in the given period.