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Garbage In
By Diana Holden
The garbage business is no longer in the dumps. In the U.S. and many other countries waste management and disposal is governed by strict environmental guidelines. But in the developing world it's harder going green. Many countries lack the money and infrastructure to create environmentally sound landfills or to recycle effectively, if at all. Moreover, in many countries garbage dumps provide livelihoods for many of its poorest inhabitants. The hope, however, is that as the waste-management business expands globally it will provide both greater environmental and economic benefits. Today, however, garbage too often accumulates in an unregulated manner, such as with the Great Garbage Patch, a floating sea of debris in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of Texas. In Lagos, Nigeria, highly toxic electronic waste, much of which is shipped from developed countries, creates health and ecological problems.
To see the world's largest dumps and landfills, read on.
