Illegal dumping

Home renovation debris and assorted rubbish including toilet bowls, old sofas and broken TVs are piling up on Mount Aegaleo on the outskirts of Athens, endangering the sparse remaining greenery and also increasing the risk of wildfires.

Police have identified a husband and wife, aged 70 and 65, who dumped waste in fields in the area of Diavata in Thessaloniki and charged them with violating environmental protection laws.

The 65-year-old owns a company that specializes in emptying and cleaning cesspools and unblocking blocking hydraulic installations.

The incoming mayor of the seaside Peloponnesian town of Aigio is appealing to Athens for funds to tackle a mounting trash problem, amid fears that some 5,000 tons of garbage dumped on the town's outskirts, including at popular beaches such as Selianitika and Akoli, poses a serious public health risk.

One of Istanbul's most critical sources of water is threatened by illegal dumping that officials have had difficulty in preventing, according to municipal police and witnesses.