IPEN International Pollutants Elimination Network

Why is Indonesia burning mountains of foreign plastic waste?

Plastic waste dumped mainly from wealthier nations to low- and middle-income countries is a global problem. This DW story describes how illegal dumping sites full of foreign-labeled packaging to small factories burning unrecyclable plastic, policy contradictions and industrial interests have turned Indonesia into a global dumping ground, at the cost of public health and the environment.