Yahoo News These are countries where people throw away the most rubbish
More than 2 billion tonnes of solid household waste is being created worldwide each year - and here are the countries which are the worst offenders.
The waste is enough to fill more than 800,000 Olympic size swimming pools and would stretch 25,000 miles if laid out end-to-end, a report by research firm Verisk Maplecroft.
It said that only 16% of the total waste - or 323 million tonnes - is recycled each year, while 46% (950 million tonnes) is disposed of unsustainably.
The country which produces the most household waste is the US, where citizens are responsible for 773kg per head per year.
The US generates 239 million tonnes of municipal solid waste, which equates to 12% of the global figure, even though the country only accounts for 4% of the world’s population.
The US produces three times the amount of waste as China, the report said, and seven times as much as Ethiopia, the lowest risk country on the list.
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In addition, it only recycles 35% of its solid waste.
Niall Smith, one of the report’s authors, said: "Where the US is doing badly is the relationship between what it generates and its capacity to recycle.
"And relative to its high income peers, that's where it is performing poorly."
The UK was in 14th place in the list of the worst countries when it comes to waste, generating 482kg per person per year.
The report said progress in the UK has “stalled for the best part of a decade”.
The report read: “While it is the 7th best performing country in the recycling index globally, it still only has a recycling rate of 44%.”
