The Southeast Asian importers became swamped with waste posing significant threat to the environment. The sheer quantity of imported scrap not only overwhelmed ports, but also caused a sharp uptick in illegal recycling operations. Illegal recyclers dumped toxic wastewater into waterways and polluted the air with fumes from burning plastic.
These countries began to face backlash from the public and environmental groups, who used officials to permanently ban the import of plastic waste. This made countries send unwanted and contaminated waste back to the countries it came from and to impose new controls.
- In 2018, Malaysia announced bans on imports of plastic scrap by 2021. Malaysia has revoked import permits and has been clamping down on illegal processing plants.
- Thailand has temporarily prohibited plastic waste import.
- Indonesia has restricted the import of non-recyclable waste and Vietnam will bar all imports of plastic scrap by 2025.
- India announced that a ban on import of plastic waste would began in August, 2019.
Picture Credit : Google