How big is the problem?
It is very difficult to estimate to assess the real extent of the obsolete pesticides problem, as only a limited number of field investigations have been made globally, but the best preliminary guess gives the next Table:
| Region | Estimated Tonnes | Sources of information |
| EU-25 | 30 -32,000 | IHPA update and POPs Convention (NIPs) |
| South-East Europe | 30-32,000 | IHPA update and POPs Convention (NIPs) |
| Former Soviet Union area | 118-225,000 | IHPA update and POPs Convention (NIPs) |
| Africa | 25,000 | FAO |
| South East Asia | 2,500 | FAO (first rough indication) |
| Central and South America | 30,000 | FAO |
Status: End 2007
An Overview of estimated amounts of Obsolete Pesticides in countries of Eastern and Central Europe, the former Soviet Union and Central Asia gives the following table:
| Country/State | Estimated Total Tonnes Obsolete Pesticides |
| Albania | 0 |
| Armenia | 800 |
| Azerbaijan | 4,000 |
| Belarus | 6,558 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Unknown |
| Bulgaria | 14103 |
| Croatia | None |
| Czech Republic | 400 |
| Estonia | 0 |
| Georgia | 3,000 |
| Hungary | 200 |
| Kazakhstan | 10,000 |
| Kosovo | 8 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 3,000 |
| Latvia | 10 |
| Lithuania | (2,000)* |
| Macedonia | 33-38,000 |
| Moldova | 5,450 |
| Montenegro | Unknown |
| Poland | 5,000-7,000 |
| Romania | 1,000 |
| Russian Federation | > 100,000 |
| Serbia | Unknown |
| Slovakia |
300 |
| Slovenia | 350-400 |
| Tajikistan | 15,160 |
| Turkey | 3,000-3,300 |
| Turkmenistan | 1,671 |
| Ukraine | 31,700 |
| Uzbekistan | 17,718 |
| Total | 256,728-263,728 |
Status September 2008:
*in Lithuania at present an elimination project is running at present (October 2007) 73% funded by the Cohesion Fund and 27% from national funding. By spring, 2009 the 2000 tonnes in the list will be eliminated and therefore this amount is not included in the total volume
Please note that IHPA does not take any responsibility for the correctness of the data. The numbers are periodically changing due to new inventory data and/or disposal actions
