Biz Stream S2020E09 - Plastic Wasteland: Fighting Illegal Dumping in SE Asia

Plastic waste from all around the world is ending up in Southeast Asia. After China stopped accepting the trash in 2018, Malaysia became the top importer. It receives hundreds of thousands of tons from Japan and other wealthy nations, and the results have been shocking. Shipments of plastic waste are piling up in ports and illegal recyclers are dumping mountains of scrap in rural areas, risking the health of local people. In Indonesia, pristine beach resorts are polluted by plastic garbage as authorities struggle to cope with the influx. In this special edition of BIZ STREAM, we send an investigation team to the region to find out how the situation developed, and what local people are doing to tackle the problem.