Malaysia urges developed countries to stop exporting garbage and waste. Photo by Zhang Wenzong (Xinhua News Agency)

In May, a container carrying garbage exuded a foul odor at Port Klang, Malaysia. Malaysian Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said she would send the maggot-infested garbage back...

Recently, a Bloomberg reporter wrote this scene into a news report, saying that Yeo Bee Yin's words represented a concern that was spreading throughout Southeast Asia. The large amount of garbage from European and American countries is weighing on Southeast Asian countries and gradually losing patience. As foreign media said, for developed countries that export garbage, one message should be clear: they should deal with their own garbage themselves.

Southeast Asia refuses to become a garbage dump

Recently, calls to reject "foreign garbage" have continued to rise in Southeast Asian countries.

The Jakarta Times of Indonesia reported on July 9 that Indonesian customs once again seized a large amount of hazardous waste from Australia at the country's port and would "send the garbage back home." A week earlier, the Indonesian government had just announced that it would return 49 containers full of "foreign garbage" to several developed countries including France.

For a long time in the past, developed countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Japan have exported an astonishing amount of "foreign garbage" to many developing countries in Asia such as China, Malaysia, and the Philippines every year. Since last year, the "foreign garbage burden" faced by Southeast Asian countries has become heavier.

In January 2018, China officially implemented the "foreign garbage" ban, completely banning the import of 24 types of solid waste in four categories. Since then, waste recyclers in European and American countries have turned their attention to other Asian markets, especially Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Take Germany as an example. According to data provided by German media, in 2017, the country exported 600 tons of plastic waste to Indonesia, and in the first 10 months of 2018, this figure increased to 49,500 tons. Other data show that in the first six months of 2018, the amount of garbage exported to Malaysia rose from 168,500 tons in 2016 to 456,000 tons.

The increasing amount of "foreign garbage" has brought serious harm to the ecological environment and public health of Southeast Asian countries. Under heavy pressure, countries have successively introduced restrictive measures and relevant laws to ban the import of garbage, saying "no" to "foreign garbage".

In June, the Philippines insisted on sending 69 containers of illegally imported garbage back to Canada at the cost of a "diplomatic war". In May, Malaysia also announced that it would send 450 tons of imported garbage back to Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States and other places.

In addition, since last year, some Southeast Asian countries have successively enacted laws to put legal shackles on "foreign garbage". The Thai government announced that it will ban the import of plastic waste before 2021. The Vietnamese government also stated that it would stop issuing new garbage import permits, and "the country cannot become a garbage dump."

"At present, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries have taken severe crackdown measures on the import of "foreign garbage", mainly including strengthening customs supervision and inspection, and further strengthening the formulation and improvement of relevant laws in China." Xu Liping, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed in an interview with our reporter.

The ban forces the renewal of the industrial chain

"Due to the development gap between developing and developed countries in terms of economy, technology and national legal system construction, waste producers in developed countries choose irresponsible export methods to reduce the disposal cost of waste as much as possible, but they cannot effectively regulate the waste trade in developing countries in terms of environmental law enforcement and technology, which leads to developing countries becoming the "garbage dump" of developed countries." Tan Quanyin, assistant researcher at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University and director of the Comprehensive Office of the Basel Convention Asia-Pacific Regional Center, pointed out in an interview with our reporter that this is the main reason why China and Southeast Asian countries are generally facing the problem of "foreign garbage".

According to statistics from the World Bank, the population of developed countries only accounts for 16% of the world's population, but produces 34% of the world's garbage. Exporting solid waste to developing countries for treatment, recycling and reuse is a "self-cleaning" move that many developed countries are accustomed to. Although it can bring certain economic benefits, it makes developing countries bear huge social and environmental costs.

Water pollution, withered crops, people getting sick... "Deutsche Welle" recently pointed out that these "foreign garbage" have brought huge environmental and social harm to Southeast Asian countries after paying attention to the environmental damage caused by garbage disposal in a small town in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"In addition to incineration and burial, sorting and some technical means are needed to deal with "foreign garbage". Southeast Asian countries do not have the ability to deal with large amounts of "foreign garbage" in the short term. In addition, the ecological environment of some Southeast Asian countries is relatively fragile, and they are already facing challenges such as marine garbage and sewage. The large influx of "foreign garbage" will cause fatal damage to the local ecological environment, and even devastating effects, which is extremely detrimental to the development of these countries." Xu Liping said.

Today, with the increasing prominence of the multiple hazards brought by "foreign garbage" and the continuous enhancement of the overall environmental awareness of Southeast Asian countries, more and more countries have chosen to "zero tolerance" for "foreign garbage". China's ban on "foreign garbage" issued last year has set an example for developing countries facing similar troubles to follow.

According to Singapore's Straits Times, on June 20, before the 34th ASEAN Summit, a group of protesters appeared in front of a government building in Bangkok, Thailand, calling on ASEAN countries to ban the export of waste to the region "from anywhere in the world."

In this regard, the head of the British Recycling Association believes that China's "foreign garbage" ban is a good thing. It can not only force more funds to invest in the research and development of garbage disposal technology, but also force the entire industrial chain from commodity manufacturing to garbage disposal to be updated.

"You should solve your own garbage"

According to the World Bank, by 2050, the solid waste produced by humans will rise to 3.4 billion tons. As more and more Southeast Asian countries refuse to "take over", how will developed countries dispose of their garbage?

Some analysts say that perhaps Africa will become the next target of developed countries. However, looking for a "next home" is just an irresponsible emergency measure. What developed countries should really think about is not how to shift the pressure of garbage to other countries, but how to cure the problem from the source.

Bloomberg said the solution may lie in new technologies and changes in social behavior, thereby reducing or even eliminating the need for landfills and incinerators. For developed countries, it is particularly urgent to learn to deal with their own garbage.

On May 10, in Geneva, Switzerland, 186 countries, including China, jointly passed a decision to no longer allow developed countries to casually dump their plastic waste to developing countries for disposal. Some Japanese media said that this imposed further stringent restrictions on international garbage imports and exports.

"The problem of "foreign garbage" has a long history. It is both a developing problem and a global governance problem. It involves many countries. It is necessary to raise awareness at the global level, introduce relevant international laws, and carry out comprehensive governance." Xu Liping pointed out that relevant countries, especially developed countries, as the main producers of most of the "foreign garbage", should assume responsibility and deal with the garbage locally, rather than dumping it in developing countries and shirking responsibility. "In addition, developing countries should also strengthen their own relevant legislation and law enforcement to further block the channels for the import of "foreign garbage."

Tan Quanyin also believes that solving the "foreign garbage" problem requires a comprehensive solution that addresses both the symptoms and the root causes. On the one hand, developed countries should adopt more responsible garbage disposal methods, strengthen the capacity building of Chinese facilities, and achieve environmentally sound management of waste in China, while strengthening law enforcement to prevent illegal exports of waste; on the other hand, countries should work together to advocate and practice sustainable production and consumption, and improve the level of clean production technology, while strengthening cooperation, and effectively assume the responsibility for the harmless management of the waste they generate, and promote the inclusion of the waste life cycle responsibility system into the framework of international law, fulfill relevant obligations, and perform their respective duties. (Reporter Yan Yu of this newspaper)

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