By Hannah Cooper, Campaign Assistant

When looking at the statistics, it’s easy to assume that the UK is far from the worst offender when it comes to the global issue of plastic pollution. The Philippines is currently the biggest contributor to plastic pollution in the oceans, followed by India, Malaysia and China. In fact, all but one of the top ten plastic polluters of the oceans are countries in Asia, with Brazil being the exception to the rule.

But are the people of these countries really using more plastic in a less sustainable way than us in the developed countries of the Global North? The short answer is no. Both geographical and economic factors are at play here. Firstly, countries that have a smaller geographical area, longer coastlines, high levels of rainfall, many river systems and poor waste management infrastructure will automatically see higher levels of plastic following to oceans than countries that don’t have these characteristics. This is because all of these features facilitate the movement of plastics towards the coastlines and out to sea. These features are typical of tropical archipelagos and islands such as The Philippines and Malaysia, so it is expected for them to contribute a greater amount to plastic pollution in the oceans.

However, it is not just the geographical features of these countries that contribute to them being the world’s largest plastic polluters. All of this plastic has to come from somewhere to begin with, and the shopping habits of people in less developed countries do not align with the amount of waste that ends up there. The exporting of plastic waste from developed countries in the global north for recycling in other countries is common practice. In fact, the plastic you put in your own recycling bin may end up in any far flung corner of the world. For developed countries, sending their plastic waste elsewhere is ideal: it’s cheap, helps meet recycling targets, and reduces the need for domestic landfill. However, for developing countries it’s far from ideal. Much of the waste sent to countries such as the Philippines and other Asian countries is of low quality, or contaminated. This means that if it can’t be recycled, it ends up being either burned or dumped illegally. This, along with the fact that many of these developing countries don’t have sufficient infrastructure to deal with the volume of waste, means that waste ends up accumulating in places that are already predisposed to having plastic flow towards the oceans. The combination of the waste industry and the geographic features in these developing countries creates the perfect environment for plastic to end up in the oceans. 

However, we might not see this economic and environmental phenomenon carry on far into the future. Already, in the beginning of 2018, China banned the importation of any plastic that was not 99.5% pure. The amount of plastic exported to China in that year dropped by 50%. Other countries are following suit. In 2019, Malaysia sent 5 containers of contaminated plastic waste back to Spain, with its Environment Minister saying “Malaysia will not be a dumping ground to the world”. 

The refusal by developing countries to deal with the waste of the world could create a very different future. One where developed countries can’t just put their “recycled” plastic waste out of sight and out of mind. We may see the creation of new, more sustainable recycling infrastructure closer to home. The future may shift the burden of plastic pollution from developing countries to our doorstep. Will we be willing to clean up the mess? 

Sources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-48444874

Which Countries Pollute the Most Ocean Plastic Waste?

https://www.ban.org/news-new/2021/4/20/the-global-norths-environmental-impact-on-the-global-south