The Wasted Earth

-- Waste has become a global problem, and is demanding curative technologies that require almost preternatural efficiency to execute. And that keep collapsing nevertheless. Duales System Deutschland, Germany's hyped-up recycling programme for packaging material, for instance, burst almost immediately after it boomed, bloated with more quantities of junk than it was designed to handle. Match this with the self-defeating laws in many countries that make it impossible to stash waste.

And so toxic waste that the donor country would never consider keeping but wouldn't think of stop producing is routinely despatched to unsuspecting countries in the South in the guise of "recyclable goods". If this hazardous trade is not banned and waste minimisation is not prioritised, Asia could turn out to be the world's dumping ground