The table below shows the amount of waste production (in millions of tonnes) in six different countries in three different years over a twenty-year period. Summaries the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The chart illustrates the quantity of

waste

, measured in millions of

tonnes

, produced by six countries—Ireland, Japan,

Korea

, Poland, Portugal, and the US—in the years 1980, 1990, and 2000. For 20 years, the US consistently ranked as the largest

waste

producer among these six countries, with its

waste

production

reaching the highest level by 2000. Except for

Korea

,

waste

production

generally increased across the board from 1980 to 2000. In 1980, the US generated the largest amount of

waste

, at 131

million

tonnes

,

while

Japan, the second-largest

waste

producer, produced only 28

million

tonnes

. Following these two were Poland, Portugal, and Ireland, with much smaller figures of 4

million

, 2

million

, and 0.6

million

tonnes

, respectively. By 1990 and 2000, the US remained the largest

waste

producer, with its

waste

output rising to 151

million

tonnes

and 192

million

tonnes

, respectively. From 1980 to 2000,

while

most countries saw a significant rise in

waste

production

,

Korea

was the exception. In 1990,

Korea

produced 31

million

tonnes

of

waste

; by 2000,

this

figure had dropped to 19

million

tonnes

.

In contrast

, the other five countries experienced a clear upward trend in

waste

production

, with the US showing the most dramatic increase, rising by 61

million

tonnes

over the period.