Malta was named as first-fastest-growing garbage by the European Environment Agency, an EU body producer, followed by Greece . The International Herald Tribune reported that the Agency has also ranked Greece last among the 15 pre-2004 Union members for levels of recycling.

The Greek government, fearing massive fines from Brussels , has warned the local authorities to curb the arbitrary dumping of refuse, since the Greek capital's only landfill reached saturation a month ago, Athens has been in the grip of a garbage crisis.

According to the EU's environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, who is Greek, the root of the problem is a short-sighted and inefficient policy for waste disposal. " Greece has failed to consider the waste hierarchy principle, where priority is given to the prevention of waste, then to its reuse, recycling and recovery," Dimas said in a telephone interview, The International Herald Tribune reported.

The International Herald Tribune added that the site, which violates a European Union landfill directive aimed at reducing the volume of waste in dumps, has been the scene of fires and landslides. A worker at Ano Liosia lost a leg in an accident there last month.

The EU has given Greece a year-end deadline to shut down more than 2,700 illegal landfills that have been registered by the state, and about 1,000 that have yet to be registered, and replace them with waste treatment facilities.

Meanwhile, the Maltese Government’s efforts on the problem are geared to lighten the country’s situation. Less waste was sent to landfill in the year 2006 as a result of the waste minimisation and recycling initiatives introduced by WasteServ. Waste going to landfill decreased by 4,000 tons when compared to 2005 - an encouraging result when one considers that waste increases at an average of 3% each year. This was announced by the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment the Hon. George Pullicino during the official opening of the Civic Amenity Site at the Maghtab Environment Complex earlier in January.