The sun rises over the smoking chimneys of Greece’s biggest electrical power plant in Ptolemais.

• Plastic recycler

  Kanhaiya works as a gardener near Bhandup, Mumbai, and came to the city many years ago. But one job is not enough these days so in the morning he collects plastic from the canal to recycle and sell on.

  

• Climatic factories

  Factories release gases into the atmosphere off the coast of Singapore.

  

• Working in hot smoke

  A cloud of smoke envelops a lotus pond in Hà Nam province, Vietnam. Workers burn dry lotus after harvest without protective equipment in high temperatures. Smoke and weather conditions severely affect their health; they earn just $3 per day.

  

• Glacier lagoon boat tour, Iceland

  An aerial view of a lagoon which formed as a result of global warming. Huge blocks of ice constantly break off the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and large icebergs float on the lagoon. The lagoon is up to 250 metres deep which makes it the deepest lake in Iceland.

  

• Garbage life

  A boy is busy searching through garbage alongside the animals.

  

• Valley of the tires

  Hazardous waste landfill in the US, 1986. The site is a failed experiment in the co-disposal of liquid hazardous waste and municipal waste. The municipal waste was supposed to absorb the hazardous liquids but it did not work and the liquids seeped out. Tires were placed on top to hide the seepage. A liquid collection system was installed in the 1990s and the tires were removed and the site capped.

  

• Kuwait tire fire

  In Jahra, Kuwait, a fire of 5m tires erupted in April 2012. The fire is thought to have been started deliberately by hawkers who wanted to recover scrap metal.

  

• Against nature

  On a makeshift boat, a rower navigates through an early morning frenzy of migratory birds. Several people have made the polluted waters of the Yamuna, the longest tributary of the Ganges, their home and are dependent on it for their basic needs. Sadly, this has resulted in rapid deterioration of the river and its wetlands.

  

• Poly one plastic fabrication plant

  The Tesoro refinery can be seen from the Los Angeles freeway. It’s almost stupidly symbolic. The bright lights and belching steam create a ubiquitous orange glow around the refinery at night. Then there’s the American flag, prominently displayed on the side of the building that faces the freeway.

  

• Water girl

  A young girl carrying metal pitchers on her head pauses as a crop field burns in Maharashtra, India. Women travel far to fetch water from a well located outside the village.

  

• The beauty of ugliness

  The sun rises over the smoking chimneys of Greece’s biggest electrical power plant in Ptolemais.

  

• Wastelands of Mumbai

  The Mulund dump is the second largest waste disposal facility in Mumbai. The garbage piles are as high as 28 metres. A group of rag pickers scavenge for plastic and metals from the waste unloaded from garbage trucks. None of the workers wears gas masks or gloves.

  

• Wastelands of Mumbai

  A young boy walks over the garbage to collect plastic waste after sunrise. He helps his father every day by working in the dump. Many children work here who can’t afford to go to school.

  

• Navajo

  The Navajo power plant has provided electricity to people across three states since the mid-70s. It has also been one of the main employers for members of the Navajo nation. But the plant’s future looks bleak. It has been voted that operations will end in 2019 because coal power is no longer economically viable.

  

• Burning the surplus

  Each year some several billion cubic metres of surplus gas are intentionally burned in the south of Iran.