THAILAND

Bangkok has long been overwhelmed by the inevitable by-product of modern economic growth - waste. But now investors are swarming in to set up and operate what could be one of Southeast Asia's largest waste disposal programmes.

After the Bangkok Municipal Authority invited tenders to set up and operate a garbage disposal plant, 112 companies responded, including big names like Sumitomo of Japan and Waste Management of the us. But there is a seamier side to the story of waste disposal: waste storage capacities in industrialised countries are becoming saturated or becoming too expensive. According to Greenpeace, waste storage cost in parts of Asia can be as low as us $40 a tonne, compared to us $1,000-1,500 in Europe and the us.

"Despite having elaborate environment protection laws covering the safe storage, treatment and disposal of waste, most Asian countries lack the administrative or technological means to enforce their laws or even assess how much waste is being produced or imported," says Srisuwan Kuankachorn, director of the Bangkok-based Project for Ecological recovery.