China for a long time chose to be the recycling plant of the world. It wasn't out of altruism, it was just good business. In the process, it has realised better than anyone else, the true horror of use and throw culture.

If people living next to garbage dumps and landfills made environment policy, these are the kind of policies we would see. For too long, environmental issues have been out of sight, out of mind. Not any more.