Polyvinyl chloride

Officials at Customs Lom detained 6,000 liters of ethyl alcohol traveling with fake documents to an EU country.

Natalia Lyritsis, (l), 5, Alexandra Patrikiou, (2nd l), 39, Alice Lyritsis, (2nd r), 3, and Vassilis Lyritsis, (r), 46, pose for a portrait at their house in Athens. "We recycle plastic, paper, glass etc... and try to buy products made from recycled materials. We try to have as many plants as possible on our balcony," said Alexandra.

Plastic bags are a symbol of our time: they are everywhere, making it easy to package, transport, contain and dispose of any kind of product. They also threaten our planet, polluting sky, land and sea, and all living organisms. And wherever there is waste and pollution, we Greeks are among the champions.

From January 1 next year Greeks will have to pay 3 cents for lightweight plastic bags such as those currently given away at supermarkets and other stores. The charge will rise to 0.07 euros from January 1, 2019.

"Greece faces significant difficulties in implementing EU environmental legislation," the European Commission said in its Environmental Implementation Review, published Monday, stressing that waste management remains the biggest problem area.

The European Commission is referring Greece to the Court of Justice of the EU over poor waste management on the Greek island of Corfu.

According to preliminary figures of the National Statistical Institute (NSI), which were released on Wednesday, the index of industrial production in May increased by 0.4 % compared to the previous month.

The figures also show that the industrial production index increased by 3.9 % compared to May 2014.