„The Gates Of Hell“

The first time photographer Timothy Bouldry visited the La Chureca dumpsite in Nicaragua, he says it felt like “the gates of Hell”. But when he met the people living there, he realised he had found his calling: to document the lives of those people and help raise awareness of the problem of dumpsites.

by Joanna Bostock

The 50 biggest dumpsites on the planet account for half a billion tons of waste, dumped in the open with no environmental controls, and they affect the lives of 65 million people, equivalent to the population of France.

The International Solid Waste Association describes dumpsites as the “most polluted places in the world” and says the threat they pose to human health should be treated as a global emergency. That’s why ISWA is running a campaign to close them down.

Reality Check Special

Find out more about the dumpsites, the people and the campaign in this week’s Saturday Reality Check Special - starting at noon.