The rise in rubbish will outstrip population growth, reaching 3.4 billion tons by 2050 from around 2 billion tons in 2016. "If we don't take any action it could have quite significant implications for health, productivity, environment, livelihoods," said Silpa Kaza, World Bank urban development specialist and report lead author. High-income countries produce a third of the world's waste, despite having only 16 percent of world's population, while a quarter comes from East Asia and the Pacific regions, it said. While more than a third of waste globally ends up in landfill, over 90 percent is dumped openly in lower income countries that often lack adequate disposal and treatment facilities, said the report. Adequate financing for collection and disposal is one of the biggest issues for cities that often struggle to cover the costs of providing waste services, said Kaza. "If the incentives are aligned and there's an ability for contracts to be enforced, then the private sector can be a really powerful player," she said. Countries could reap economic and environmental benefits by better collecting, recycling and disposing of trash, according to the report.

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