A fact-finding delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo toured Scotland's biggest landfill site yesterday seeking solutions for their capital city, Kinshasa's, chronic waste problems.

The delegation was at The Waste Recycling Group's (WRG) Greengairs site in North Lanarkshire to check out best practise in waste disposal and recycling.

Ayrshire-based waste management firm Albion Environmental, who are playing host to the delegation, had earlier given a demonstration of waste analysis.

Five years of civil war and the lack of enforceable waste management procedures have left Kinshasa vulnerable to disease and flooding, and the accumulating waste is also crippling its infrastructure.

Ruffin Bangu Mbuandi Pwaty, provincial environmental co-ordinator for Kinshasa said: "Every single day in Kinshasa people are dying from diseases such as malaria and yellow fever because of the waste problem. Now is the time to put in place a proper waste management policy - otherwise we could be on the verge of a real disaster in our capital city."