The bar graph illustrates the average amounts of waste disposed of via three methods—landfill, burning, and dumping at sea—in a European country from 2005 to 2008.
Overall, landfill was the most popular waste disposal method in the initial three years but fell behind in the final year. In contrast, the amount of waste treated by burning showed a consistent increase throughout the period. Meanwhile, dumping at sea remained relatively stable with a slight decline towards the end.
In 2005, approximately 1800 million tonnes of waste were disposed of through landfill, representing the highest figure among the three methods. However, from 2006 to 2008, there was a dramatic reduction in the amount of waste processed by this method, dropping to around 600 million tonnes by the end of the period.
In contrast, waste disposal through burning, though initially the least favored method at about 500 million tonnes in 2005, experienced a notable upward trend. By 2008, the volume of waste treated by burning had increased significantly to approximately 900 million tonnes, surpassing landfill disposal.
As for dumping at sea, this method accounted for around 600 million tonnes of waste from 2005 to 2007. There was a modest decline of 50 million tonnes in 2008, reflecting a slight decrease in its use.