COSTA RICA

A new landfill in the suburbs of San Jos, Costa Rica, will ease the waste management problems that have plagued the city for nearly a decade. The landfill, in the northwestern suburb of La Carpio, is to be built and operated by a Canadian firm, Berthierville Incorporated, and expected to be ready by April.

The landfill will have the capacity to handle almost 600 tonnes of trash.

"At last, a light at the end of the tunnel," said health minister Rogelio Pardo recently during a ceremony at the Casa Presidencial.

But La Carpio is just the first step towards solving the country's burgeoning garbage problem.