Humans are producing more waste than ever before. According to research by the World Bank, the world generates 3.5 million tonnes of solid waste a day, ten times the amount of a century ago. Rising population numbers and increasing economic prosperity fuel the growth, and as countries become richer, the composition of their waste changes to include more packaging, electronic components and broken appliances, and less organic matter. Landfills and waste dumps are filling up, and the World Economic Forum reports that by 2050 there will be so much plastic floating in the world’s oceans that it will outweigh the fish. A documentation of waste management systems in metropolises across the world investigates how different societies manage—or mismanage—their waste.
Waste management story wins first prize in World Press Photo
Kadir van Lohuizen is a veteran photojournalist from Netherlands. In his most recent work, his concern about waste management and how it affects human life, led him on a trip to the world’s most polluted areas.
For this work, Kadir won first prize story in “Environmental” category in World Press Photo 2017. This project, along with many other photographs show the current state of the world we are living in, is being exhibited at the gallery space of the Hanoi University of Fine Art (42 Yet Kieu, Hanoi) from June 16 to July 8 2018.