A Guardian podcast released today, 16 September 2026, revisits a 2023 long read titled "The rubbishscapes of Essex: why our buried trash is back to haunt us." The podcast, introduced by the original author, focuses on landfill sites located along the Thames estuary in Essex.
The original article from 2023 discussed how these landfill sites have reportedly swallowed many beauty spots over the past 50 years. It also highlighted that these dumps are now starting to disgorge tonnes of detritus into the river.