Berlin, Nov 15 (IANS): Around 21 million litres of pollutants were released into the environment in Germany last year due to accidents, nearly tripling the amount recorded the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Friday.

This marks the highest level of pollution since 2019, when 31.2 million litres were reported, Destatis said, adding that of the total pollutants released last year, about 3.3 million litres, or 15.9 per cent, were unrecoverable, leaving long-term contamination in the environment.

According to the office, the sharp fluctuations in pollution levels are not uncommon, as they often depend on the scale and severity of individual incidents, Xinhua news agency reported.

Around half of the pollutants released in 2023 were linked to just four major accidents, it said.

Despite the surge in pollution, the total number of accidents involving water-polluting substances remained nearly unchanged from the previous year, with 1,876 incidents recorded a marginal drop of 0.1 per cent, it added.