Arpaio, who is seventy-seven, thick-bodied, and restless, studied the strip malls and waste grounds streaming past.

NEWYORKER: Sheriff Joe

The work will be carried out by surveyors working for Enterprise Peterborough, an organisation contracted to provide a number of services to the council including waste collection, recycling and grounds maintenance.

BBC: Tree survey to cost Peterborough council almost ?3m

Yet as the special report on the waste business in this week's issue argues, there are grounds for optimism amid the mounds of rubbish.

ECONOMIST: The waste industry