Thread by @BiIndia

The West has been dumping tens of millions of tons of trash in Southeast Asian countries for more than 25 years - now they want to send it back

businessinsider.in/the-west-has-b…

Countries in Southeast Asia, long the recipients of huge consignments of Western trash, have decided to take a stand and send tons of the waste back to where it came from.

#PlasticWaste

It is difficult to track exactly how the global waste trade works. But, broadly, Western companies are prepared to pay to dispose of trash, and companies in poorer nations have been accepting the contracts.

Recycled plastics tend to end up rotting in landfills or being burned in illegal incinerators, which releases highly toxic fumes that come with an acrid smell, according to The Guardian and the BBC. Only 9% of the world's plastic end up being recycled.

An investigation last year found wrappers and packages from distinctly American companies, like Walmart, sticking out from trash heaps in Malaysia.Western trash had turned Southeast Asia into a "global dumpyard."

Malaysia - which became the world's largest importer of plastic waste after China's 2018 ban - on Tuesday said it will send 3,000 metric tonnes back to the exporting countries.Those countries include the US, Japan, France, Canada, Australia, and the UK, Reuters reported.

.@Greenpeace has accused Western countries for exploiting poorer, developing nations with inadequate regulatory framework.

The world's 21 largest plastic exporters with the three largest being the US, Japan, and Germany produced 12.5 million tons of plastic in 2016.That number dropped to 9.99 million tons in 2017, and dramatically to 5.8 million tons in 2018.