An artistic view of Europe's waste – EEA announces competition winners

When things come to the end of their useful life, they are often thrown away with little thought for the consequences. However, the way we manage waste in Europe often means we lose valuable resources. Other effects of poor waste management include greenhouse gas emissions and pollution harming human health.  While a recycling culture is becoming the norm in some countries, others are still lagging behind. The Waste•smART competition invited participants from 39 European countries to reflect on these issues.

Thirty finalists were selected. From this initial selection, a group of communication experts from across Europe chose a winner in each category (photography, videos and cartoons), and selected an additional winner of the 'youth prize', open to all entrants between the ages of 18 and 24. The public also voted for their favourite finalist in an online poll. All five winners will receive a cash prize of €500.

The finalists' entries will be promoted throughout 2014 in EEA publications and events related to the topic of waste and resource use. And the winners are…

• Stephen Mynhardt from Ireland won the cartoon category, with 'Collective responsibility'

• The photo competition was won by Stipe Surać from Croatia, who submitted this:

• Judges awarded the best video prize to Sebastian Loghin from Romania for his short video 'Recycle':

• Greek Konstantinos Pappas won the youth prize with this animation, titled 'The Aim':

• Finally, almost 1 800 people voted for the public choice award. Spaniard Irene Sanfiel, also known as Zireja, won with 573 votes for 'The waste coast'.