Waste colonialism and the Global Plastic Economy

The global trade in plastic waste reveals stark inequalities. For decades, high-income countries like the UK, US, Germany and Japan exported much of their plastic waste to lower-income nationals, often with weak waste infrastructures (OECD 2022, Plastics Treaty Briefing 2023). This practice, often referred to as “waste colonialism,” offloads the environmental burden of consumption onto those least able to manage it. 

As recently as 2018, Asia imported 70-80% of the world’s traded plastic waste. Backlash has since changed this, however. China banned imports in 2017, Malaysia returned over 300 containers of contaminated plastic in 2021 and Turkey recently ended plastic imports from the UK.

Today, only 2% of global plastic waste is offshored, but that still amounts to around 5 million tonnes per year (Ritchie 2024). When this waste lands in countries with open landfills or unregulated dumping grounds, much of it is at high risk of leaking into waterways.

It’s tempting to blame the Global South for ocean plastics, but that narrative is misleading. The root cause is often external demand combined with internal underinvestment. Urbanisation has far outpaced infrastructure growth in many places, especially across parts of Asia, Africa and South America. In Malaysia, for example, mismanaged waste per capita is 50 times higher than in the UK.

The Global Plastic Treaty

Solutions must reflect these global dynamics. Simply banning waste exports isn’t enough. Rich countries must invest in waste prevention (production reduction, reuse, refill, rental…) as well as in international waste management systems, and stop exporting products that recipient countries can’t safely process. Industries must also stop pretending that responsibility ends at the point of sale. Financial and other mechanisms to address these inequalities are part of the remit of the Global Plastics Treaty.

The ocean doesn’t care where plastic comes from - but it deserves us stopping this pollution injustice, especially since our lives, climate and health are closely connected to that of our global ocean.

Next in Ocean series: 7/10 The recycling myth and the limits of tech solutions

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For more information contact: info@scarabtrust.org.uk

Images:

 container ship - Image by Freddy from Pixabay (ST ref: 1370)

Indonesian kids with bits of trash - Image from BFFP: Story of Plastic (ST ref: 1067)

Thanks to Frédérique Mongodin from Seas at Risk and Laura Díaz Sánchez from BFFP for editorial support.