The Waste Crisis - Perspectives from Asia

This article is written by Khin Thazin , an EB Impact Volunteer Contributor.

“What we throw away, doesn’t go away.” This was the refrain in the latest documentary Wasted, produced by Eco-Business. In the poly-crisis era of climate change, waste issues are not granted nearly enough attention in the space for urgent global climate action. From food to e-waste, the story of waste is one that sheds light on the climate crisis and the role of every individual on the planet in combating the crisis – by radically changing the way we consume and live our lives.

Asia is a particularly important region in which waste problems and solutions have a significant impact on the ecosystem and climate change. This is because the world’s waste flows into Asian countries, with high-income countries exporting waste to low-income countries in the region. The global waste trade accounts for over 2 million tonnes of waste imported in Southeast Asia alone from 2016 to 2018. According to the World Bank, the amount of waste is expected to increase by 70% by 2050 if no serious action is taken to manage waste. Against this backdrop, Wasted dives into case studies of the waste management landscape in Asia and provides expert insights – from policymakers to scientists – into the precarious world of waste.

Myths of Recycling

The first of the main sections in the film deals with the myth of recycling and misinformed recycling. Many people are not aware of the proper way to recycle due to either misleading or insufficient information marked on products that they buy and use in their daily lives.

For instance, the film introduced the concept of the “chasing arrow” symbol that became a universal label for recycling, so much so that it now appears on almost every product imaginable – even non-recyclable materials. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the widespread and negligent use of the symbol by companies have led to throwaway single-use plastics being labelled as recyclable. It is not unknown that such egregious errors have confused consumers and prompted improper waste management at source.

Jamie, an audience member at the film event, shared how dismayed she was after learning about the blatant misuse of the chasing arrow symbol by companies. Yet, there is little regulation on curbing such misinformation when it comes to recycling plastic waste due to the difficulty of differentiating types of recyclable and non-recyclable plastics.

When asked about what people should be aware of when recycling, Marla Lise , an educator and sustainability advocate, shared her insights after watching the film: “People are not educated when consuming products or supporting brands, so they just leave it to the companies to fill in the gaps. Just because something is recyclable, doesn’t mean it will be recycled later... People should first say ‘No’ first when buying something.”

The Informal Waste Sector

To further investigate the waste management systems in Asia, the team travelled to Vietnam, South Korea, India and Singapore to shine a light on the current struggles and solutions in Asia’s waste industry.

In Vietnam and India, the film explores how the informal waste sector operates in parallel with mass waste management technology and factories. Duot is one of thousands of waste workers in Vietnam who are on the frontlines of waste management, severely underpaid and unacknowledged in their collective labour to secure a cleaner and safer environment for their communities.  “I think you have to love your job, then you can continue to work. You have to say, ‘The job finds me, not me looking for the job’”, she shares. Her dedication to clean up the streets and commit to environmental protection, in the face of social and economic exclusion, demonstrates how informal waste workers are an integral part of the local economy and should be integrated as such. Such stories need to be told more often, as emphasised by Jessica Cheam, Founder and Managing Director of Eco-Business.

Likewise, India is home to millions of informal waste workers helping to manage the mounting mass of waste due to rapid urbanization and high population density. In places like the Ghazipur landfill in Delhi, waste is not segregated or treated; landslides, soil contamination and fires are also common on site which pose major health hazards and ecological damage to nearby communities. At root are the challenges of segregating large amounts of waste (I.e. 3000 metric tonnes daily) and the lack of infrastructure.

The film also explored how India is creating smart solutions to its massive waste problem: landfill remediation and formalizing the role of waste workers being a few of them. Many states in India are clearing its legacy waste (waste that has been collected and kept for years) to reclaim acres of land from dumpsites. By properly removing hazardous and toxic waste from a landfill, local authorities in Chennai have repurposed these spaces to build public parks and green spaces for people. Smart cities like Indore are also contributing to effective waste management solutions such as smart waste disposal and collection.

Turning to our own backyard, the film team interviewed stakeholders in the Singapore waste management system, highlighting the country’s low recycling rate of 12% in 2022. And because of the Basel convention and Singapore’s severely limited landfill area, generating a more sustainable form of domestic waste management is critical for this small island nation.

To step up recycling efforts, the government has implemented Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, awareness raising campaigns and recycling initiatives like the blue bins. A CNA documentary reported on the effectiveness of the blue bins initiative alongside the forgotten trade of informal waste collectors, known as the “Karang Guni” in local vernacular. Formalizing the role of the local Karang Guni waste collectors should also be considered complementary to other nation-wide recycling programmes for effective waste management. Considering their years of trade experience and knowledge in waste collection and types of recyclables, the Karang Guni provide vital services to reduce contamination at source and manage waste properly.

On top of this, continuing to enact EPR laws would also be a priority for the nation to demand corporate accountability in reaching zero-waste goals, as pointed out by Cheam.

Whose Responsibility Is It?

Following the film, the panel discussion raised important questions on three levers of responsibility in waste management: the individual, organizational and policy. Primarily, the question of where consumer responsibility lies in the overall system seems to be a persistent one. There’s never an easy, clear-cut answer, and as Prashant Singh, Co-Founder & CEO at Blue Planet Environmental Solutions, puts it: “The biggest bottleneck is that there’s a lack of sense of ownership in waste management.”

The risks of greenwashing by companies and big brands, as highlighted by Fraser Morton, filmmaker and co-producer of Wasted, is a priority issue. Morton called for raising awareness, collective mobilization and holding big corporations accountable for their waste production as part of the solution. Although there’s certainly a need to keep pushing for responsible consumption on an individual level, Morton believes “we need to take cultural blame into perspective...We can’t be constantly blaming each other in this. We still need to take those flights for work, we still need to travel and live our lives. But the impact at scale needs to go back to companies and brands.” Corporations indeed have the power and resources to significantly impact the waste industry and turn the tide for us all. And conscious individual consumer choices and movements that hold the biggest polluters accountable ultimately puts the pressure and effect profound change.

As for policy and regulation, governments are inevitably responsible in managing the flow of waste across transnational borders. For Asia in particular, managing the intake of the world’s waste cannot be done without an equity lens. And in the face of economic pressures, “developing countries need to tweak policies, adapt and embrace the transition differently that align with their country’s needs,” said Singh. This statement bears an important reminder that a just and equitable transition in sustainable waste management should not be sidelined. Rather than solely locking in on regional responsibility, it is essential to see the bigger historical picture in how waste colonialism operates and the dire consequences of the Global North dumping waste into under-resourced countries in the South.

Call to Action

As the world generates more waste than ever before, there must be coordinated and scaled efforts to drastically reduce the waste we produce and ensure that those who are on the frontlines of waste management are able to work in safe and healthy conditions. Uncovering the not-so-hidden systems and key players in Asia’s waste industry, Wasted calls forth - in urgent need - the stakes involved for all of us in this fight for a liveable, waste-free world.

So what can we do in our immediate locales and sphere of influence? Encouraging more people to be involved in changing the waste narrative is the first step, and here are a few ways to start:

1.     Make a pledge on the Wasted film website to join the movement

2.     Reach out to EB Impact if your organisation would like to co-organise an educational programme around waste management

3.     Share your reflections and experiences with on social media using the hashtag #WastedFilm

By seeing and learning about the real costs of a polluted home, the film presents an important opportunity to reflect on our own footprint in waste, the solutions that are already underway and what we can collectively do to reduce and manage waste for the betterment of our health, societies and the planet.

About the Contributor

Khin Thazin is an independent researcher and currently works in editorial at Routledge, Taylor & Francis. She has worked with non-profit organizations in the climate and migrant advocacy space, and is always on the lookout for new books and hiking spots!

Interested in writing a piece that addresses an issue you are passionate about? Reach out to Kaamela Barvin , Community and Marketing Manager at EB Impact to bring the story to life.