In May 2021, Turkey banned imports of plastic waste from the European Union and joined an anti-garbage protest launched by China in 2018.
"They (Asian countries) don't want to be dumping ground for the world anymore," said Will Nichols, director of environmental research at Virick Maplecroft Research, which specializes in global risk research.
For decades, developed countries have responded to increased waste generation by brushing their garbage under carpets. They stuff thousands of tons of garbage into cargo ships and export them to developing countries. Some of the garbage was recycled, but most of it was burned, turning the entire neighborhood into a toxic city.
Beginning in 2018, several eastern countries, including China, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and, most recently, Turkey, imposed bans on waste imports. These bans are changing the dynamics of global waste management and urging industrialized countries to face and address the waste crisis.
The global garbage crisis is intensifying / Antoine · Gillette
While optimists believe this will drive green waste management technologies, pessimists fear that Western countries will move their garbage exports to other regions, with the main destination being Africa.
The world generates more than 2 billion tons of household solid waste each year, enough to fill nearly 1 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.
While the waste crisis is indeed a global problem, the problem of poor waste management is particularly acute in low-income countries, where waste collection rates are often below 50 percent. In addition, rapid population growth and urban sprawl are generating more and more waste, putting additional pressure on an already overwhelmed waste management system.
The stench of huge dumps on the outskirts of the city, piles of garbage on river banks, open burning of some toxic waste, flies and dung from rodents are all familiar sights.
In addition to economic, environmental and health impacts, poor waste management has social causes. Since garbage is mainly piled up on land in poor communities, inadequate waste management maximizes the impact on nearby residents.
1% of urban dwellers in low-income countries choose to choose between hunger and waste collection, choosing to collect waste in landfills and dirty streets. Unfortunately, these garbage pickers are forced to make ends meet and expose themselves to dangerous substances at all times.
To illustrate the problem of garbage flooding, show you the world-famous garbage dumps where people try to make ends meet, surviving on pungent stench and filthy garbage heaps.
Zabalin is a garbage collector town on the outskirts of Cairo in Egypt. Zabalin residents, while playing a key role in Cairo's waste management system, live in an actual dump. Living prices there are high.
In addition to enduring its foul odor, garbage also releases deadly toxic gases that can have devastating effects on health. The region's infant mortality rate is 11.7 percent, more than double the Cairo average, though lower than the 25 percent high of the 1980s. According to the local NGO Youth Spirit, the risk of contracting hepatitis C from syringes in garbage is also high. Almost half of Zabalin is infected.
Abobloch is a cemetery for electronics. Located on the outskirts of Ghana's capital, Accra, it is a huge landfill where digital appliances discarded by developed countries are dismantled and scrapped.
People working there burn off the plastic shell of the product in order to find metal parts. As a result, highly toxic chemicals are released into the air.
Operating without any health and safety regulations, the people who live and work there every day, including young children, face huge health risks. Still, for many locals, the site remains the only source of income.
Pollution from garbage isn't the only danger to local people's lives. Sewage from the city flows through garbage dumps, twice a year, and floods cause mudslides in which the insuspective are often buried alive in garbage dumps. In addition, District 3 is a haven for criminal syndicates, so garbage collectors must take pains to avoid provoking the wrath of gang members.
Some locals liken the "landmine" to a beast, predatory and unpredictable: others believe it is haunted by evil spirits. Even so, people who pick up garbage are inseparable. The dumpster remains their last hope for keeping their families alive.
While bearing the major burden, low-income countries are not the only ones suffering from the consequences of the global waste crisis, and this landfill is a vivid example.
Campania, known in Roman times as Campania Felix, or "Fertile Countryside", is a picturesque region of southwestern Italy. It is known for the historic city of Naples, the majestic Mount Vesuvius, scenic nature and delicious food.
The illegal disposal of toxic industrial waste by mafia groups has been a major source of pollution in Campania
Over the past three decades, however, Campania's reputation has been infamous. The Mafia illegally disposed of toxic industrial waste, poisoning the soil, groundwater and air in the region, now known as the "Land of Fire", as the garbage burned continuously. In addition, some believe that the waste comes not only from Italy, but also partly from other parts of Europe, and that much of it is radioactive.
The investigation into the illegal dumping of toxic waste began in the 90s when police officer Roberto Mancini exposed the criminal activities of the "ecological mafia". However, despite the evidence taken in his investigation, the case was hastily dismissed by the local population and the government. It wasn't until 15 years later that the case reopened.
Although the rate of cancer among locals has risen sharply, the issue has been shelved for too long. Doctors have sounded the alarm about the dramatic rise in the number and variety of childhood cancers in the region.
Now, thanks to extensive media coverage, the Government has finally taken note of local demand and has recently criminalized illegal dumping. However, many challenges remain in halting such illegal acts.
As the global waste crisis rises, the United Nations says there is still plenty of time and opportunity to manage the waste disposal sector in a more economical, greener and greener way. Matthew Gubqiang, director of the International Centre for Environmental Technology (IETC), emphasized the "waste" sector as a "demonstration area for a green economy." Matthew Gubqiang, director of the International Centre for Environmental Technology (IETC), emphasized the "waste" sector as a "demonstration area for a green economy."
The solution may lie in technological innovation and changes in social habits, reducing or even eliminating dependence on dumps and incinerators.
However, both solutions require considerable effort, political will and investment. While advanced democracies like Italy have all the ingredients for success, countries like Ghana and Guatemala seem unlikely to govern independently.
So are they bound to be dumping ground for the world? It's all up to time. I hope that they can all have environmental awareness and achieve long-term healthy development, and their lives will be guaranteed.
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