He admitted that when it came to the disposal of rubbish, "everybody who looks at what's happening with packaging and all the waste we create knows we can do better there".

BBC: Bottles

The author is just as interested in the creation of rubbish as its disposal.

ECONOMIST: A history of waste

One way of doing that is to work out the cost of disposal and charge firms and households for rubbish collection based on the volume they produce.

ECONOMIST: The waste industry

Most visibly, hundreds of tonnes of rubbish has piled up in the streets of Naples because the city has no adequate waste-disposal facilities.

ECONOMIST: Watch out Romano Prodi, there's a Ferrari on your wheel