Whether it is tattered plastic bags washing up on Bali's beaches, polystyrene lunch boxes littering Chinese streets or discarded candy wrappers along Nepal's Himalayan trekking trails, Asia is facing a growing scourge: mountains of garbage that can no longer simply be swept away.
Throughout the region, countries are having to confront their heretofore inadequate responses to the challenges of solid waste management. Among the specific problems are nonexistent recycling efforts, overburdened garbage collection and inadequate sanitation services.
