Earth Day 2024: Trash Talk – Exposing the Dirty Secret of Waste Colonialism
by Tamara Amalia
Spoiled vegetables. Stale bread crusts. The forgotten leftovers lurking in the back of the fridge. Food waste is a problem plaguing households worldwide, but the issue goes far beyond overflowing compost bins.
A hidden epidemic – waste colonialism – is silently strangling developing nations, including countries in Asia. Developed countries, often struggling with their own waste management, are exporting their problem, dumping plastic, electronics, and other unwanted materials onto countries with less stringent regulations.
The statistics paint a grim picture. In 2016 alone, the world generated a staggering 11.2 billion tons of solid waste, with plastic waste projected to reach an alarming 1.2 billion tons annually by 2050 and is expected to reach 140 million tonnes by 2030. The brunt of this burden falls heavily on countries in Southeast Asia. Malaysia, for instance, became a global leader in plastic waste imports, grappling with the environmental and health consequences of the West’s throwaway culture, receiving 1.3 million tons of plastic waste in 2018 alone, much of it from developed nations.
The Philippines, another Southeast Asian nation, is estimated to generate 8 million tons of plastic waste annually, struggling to manage its waste stream while also facing an influx of imported waste.
The worst-case scenario is that if waste colonialism continues unchecked, the consequences will be catastrophic. Overloaded landfills will leach pollutants into the soil and groundwater, poisoning ecosystems and jeopardizing food security in developing nations. The continued burning of plastic waste will exacerbate air pollution, leading to respiratory illnesses and heart disease faced by everyone, including vulnerable communities who contributed the least to the issue. Microplastics will become ubiquitous in the oceans, harming marine life and entering the human food chain.
The good news is that it is not too late to flip the coin. This Earth Day, let’s break the cycle. A truly sustainable solution demands a collaborative approach. Although developing nations in Asia holds responsibilities to reduce the number of their waste, developed Western nations must also take significant steps. The focus must shift from exporting the problem to creating a circular economy within their borders. This requires robust national recycling programs, extended producer responsibility (where companies are responsible for the end-of-life management of their products), and investments in innovative recycling technologies. Moreover, Western nations must lead in promoting international cooperation and knowledge transfer.
This Earth Day, let’s break the cycle. A truly sustainable solution demands a collaborative approach. Although developing nations in Asia holds responsibilities to reduce the number of their waste, developed Western nations must also take significant steps.
The focus must shift from exporting the problem to creating a circular economy within their borders.
At the end of the day, global waste is a shared burden. We can’t afford to let waste colonialism become the world’s next environmental and humanitarian crisis. It’s time to break the cycle and move beyond borders and build a sustainable future where waste isn’t a burden for some, but a responsibility shared by all. Because a healthy planet starts with a clean conscience – and a clear bin.