China's Waste Management Concerns

A report on waste disposal in China: In less than five years, the Zhengzhou Comprehensive Waste Treatment Landfill has overwhelmed this otherwise pristine village of about 1,000 people. Peaches and cherries rot on trees, infested with insect life drawn by the smell. Fields lie unharvested, contaminated by toxic muck. Every day, another 100 or so tonnes of garbage arrive from nearby Zhengzhou, a provincial capital of eight million. Though a polyethylene liner is in place, residents contend it does not span the whole landfill, and that what is there may be torn.