Budapest forests fouled with illegal garbage dumps

Budapest's forests have been fouled by more than 10,000 illegal garbage dumps, writes privatbankar.hu, based on a report in daily Népszabadság.

Half of the garbage is made of household waste, while the rest is composed of building materials and rubble, lawn and garden trimming and hazardous waste.

The problem is not only aesthetic: wastes like discarded motor oil pollute the ground and the water, damaging plants and endangering animals.

The most polluted forests are thought to be the Halmi forest in District XVIII, the Páskomliget forest in District XV, and the patches of forest along Illatos út in District IX and Konkoly-Thege út and Jánoshegyi út in District XII.

Forest workers in charge of the problem are finding that the garbage heaps grow faster than they can be cleaned away, the paper writes. In addition, there is not much that can be done against offenders, as the maximum fine that can be issued in these cases is only a few tens of thousand forints, or just a couple of hundred euros at most.

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