Villagers pick through discarded imported plasticVillagers pick through discarded imported plastic that was dumped there by a nearby paper recycling company whose imported paper was contaminated with plastic, in Sumengko Village, near Gresik, Surabaya, Indonesia© GAIA/CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 / Adam Dean
Plastics crisis in Bangun Village, IndonesiaPeople collect plastic scraps and paper to take to a local factory, where it is burned as fuel. One small truckload earns $10 USD. City: Bangkun Village Location: Pungging District, Mojokerto Regency© Ecoton / Fully Handoko
Malaysia's Broken Global Recycling SystemGreenpeace Malaysia has been conducting a field investigation on the broken system of recycling and how it impacts Malaysian society. The findings were shocking: a new ‘dump site’ of plastic waste from more than 19 countries -- most of them are developed countries. The investigation found illegal practices, and blatant violations causing environmental pollution as well as harming people’s health conditions. Since China banned plastic waste imports in January 2018, countries in Southeast Asia - particularly Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia - have accepted an increased amount of plastic waste. Between January and July 2018 alone, Malaysia imported 754,000 metric tonnes of plastic -- the weight of approximately 100,000 large elephants. It came from countries like the United States, Japan, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.© Nandakumar S. Haridas / Greenpeace