The provided table illustrates the changes in the amount of waste generated, measured in millions of tons, in six distinct nations over a two-decade period: from 1980 to 2000.
Overall, all surveyed countries, except for Korea, witnessed a growth in waste output between 1980 and 2000. It is evident that the US produced the largest amount of waste in all given years, whereas the lowest figures for this were recorded in three European nations.
Regarding countries with a significant increase in the quantity of waste, the US exceeded every other nation by a substantial margin, with 131 million tons in 1980 and 151 million tons 1990. This amount surged dramatically to 192 million tons at the beginning of the 21st century. Similarly, 28 million tons of waste were generated by Japan in 1980. This figure experienced a 4-million-ton growth in 1990, before soaring remarkably to 53 tons in 2000. Additionally, Ireland exhibited a substantial growth, rocketing from 0.6 million tons in 1980 to 5 million tons in 2000.
Concerning the remaining nations, Poland started at a modest 4 million tons, and steadily rose to 5 million tons in 1990, then 6.6 million tons a decade later. This pattern was also documented in Poland with 2, 3 and 5 million tons of waste in 1980, 1990 and 2000, respectively. Conversely, the amount of waste in Korea dropped drastically by almost a half from 31 tons in 1990 to 19 tons in 2000.