Greece's waste problem

Since its only landfill reached saturation a month ago, Athens has been in the grip of a garbage crisis.

Mountains of refuse filled the streets in early January, spilling out of garbage cans and marring the face of one of the world’s most fabled cities. As the days wore on and no solution was found, bags were savaged by stray dogs and cats. Pedestrians faced a daily battle to circumnavigate the rot.

The crisis eased somewhat in mid-January when the authorities began taking rubbish to a temporary landfill that was, in effect, an extension of the old one. But now that, too, is brimming, and trash is being dumped in a new landfill that has been set up alongside it.

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