The bar chart compares the amounts of waste disposed of by landfill, burning and sea dumping in a European country in 2005, 2006 and 2008, measured in million tonnes.
Overall, landfill use declined substantially over the period, whereas the quantity of waste dumped at sea rose steadily and became the dominant disposal method by 2008. Burning fluctuated much less dramatically, increasing in 2006 before returning to its initial level.
In 2005, landfill was by far the most widely used method, with 2,000 million tonnes of waste disposed of in this way.
This figure fell by 400 million tonnes to 1,600 million in 2006 and then decreased further to 1,200 million by 2008. By contrast, sea dumping followed the opposite pattern, rising from 1,200 million tonnes in 2005 to approximately 1,450 million in 2006 and about 1,650 million in the final year.
Burning accounted for the smallest amount initially, at 900 million tonnes. It then increased to roughly 1,200 million tonnes in 2006 before falling back to around 900 million in 2008. As a result, sea dumping overtook landfill to become the principal disposal method by the end of the period.