From Cosmos (5/2/24)
It’s not poor cities that are generating more waste, it’s rich ones
It’s the stereotype we’re all aware of – rich cities with sparkling streets and sidewalks, and poorer cities with rubbish piling up and dirty, congested roads.
But how true is this really? A study published in Nature Cities has found that cities with a higher per-capita GDP create more waste overall.
“We as a society tend to ignore the unpleasant side of our production,” says Mingzhen Lu, an assistant professor in environment at New York University.
And with almost two-thirds of the world’s population to live in cities by 2050, we need to be better aware of our own waste.
