Southeast Asia to waste shipments: not in our backyards Global waste is forecast to grow by 70% by 2050, on account of rapid urbanisation and growing populations, according to the World Bank(WB), which has committed over US$4.7 billion to more than 340 solid waste management programmes worldwide since 2000. And unless effective mechanisms to abate waste production are adopted, WB reports that global waste generation will reach 3.4 billion tonnes/year up from 2 billion tonnes in 2016. Meanwhile, data suggests that of the 300 million plastics products produced globally, only 10% is recycled. So where does the rest of the waste go? Lately, large containers of plastic waste, which contain materials that are difficult or even impossible to recycle, are being shipped on a regular basis to countries in Southeast Asia that are also wrestling with their increasing domestic waste growth.
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