Foreign visitors to Moscow are often impressed by the armies of street cleaners and garbage collectors that toil year round to keep the roads and sidewalks of the city scrubbed and free of leaves and litter. But what remains a mystery to visitors, and many Muscovites alike, is what happens to the waste once it is removed.
So far there has been only one solution to dealing with Moscow's waste: transport it to regions outside the city and dump it into vast landfill sites. But recent figures suggest that this solution will not work for much longer.