While economists continue to rely on the growth of China’s consumers to buoy growth in global markets, what is the effect of the country’s spiralling consumption?

In , documentary filmmaker and photographer Wang Jiuliang travels to more than 500 landfills – both legal and illegal – around China’s capital capturing on film the mounds of trash and excrement generated by its more than 20 million inhabitants.

Livestock wander amongst the plastic, chewing on waste, while scavengers dig through the piles of rubbish looking for anything that might prove half-valuable, while the skyscrapers of the city glitter in the background.