Southeast Asia talking trash (literally) with West: Indonesia is latest in line

Faced with a massive trash problem of their own making, Southeast Asia too is pushing back and increasingly rejecting foreign trash imports fearing they could become the next dumping ground.

Much of Southeast Asia’s reluctance comes from the massive amount of waste it generates itself and has impacted its own local ecosystems. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

After China, the world’s largest waste collector for decades, said enough is enough to imports of all plastic waste from developed countries, a warning bell was sounded well across much of the western world. It upended the recycling habits of the world as western nations scurried to find a new destination for their contaminated trash.