There is more and more plastic waste piling up everywhere around the world. Significant amount of plastic that isn’t recycled, ends up in landfill or, in the developing world, thrown into unregulated dump sites. Developed countries export unwanted waste to poorer countries. Some even rid themselves of their toxic or hazardous waste. 

It is called the ‘toxic colonialism’. It was first coined by Jim Puckett of Greenpeace. It is sometimes compared to the exploitations that characterized the colonial era. The affected countries often lack the resources such as effective waste management systems and environmental legislation and regulations, and are left with even more problems. The toxic materials contaminate food sources and disrupts the ecosystem.

There is little regard for the health concerns since developing countries need the economic gain and thus subject their people to unhealthy environment. Toxic pollutants can poison drinking water, the fish in rivers and ponds, food grown on contaminated farmland. More than one in seven deaths in the world are pollution related. From contaminated sites alone, toxic pollution affects the health of more than 200 million people worldwide. 

Fortunately, toxic pollution can be solved because we already have solutions. Many developed countries have the expertise, to have already cleaned up their worst cases of toxic pollution. They have the moral duty to transfer to, and share the expertise with poorer countries. Solutions can usually be implemented in developing countries for a fraction of the cost spent in the West. Since pollution affects all of us on Earth, we need collaboration and commitment from the international community.

 

Toxic colonialism - Wikipedia

What You Need To Know About Toxic Pollution: A Conversation with Richard Fuller (worldbank.org)

Plastic Waste and Pollution [Everything You Need To Know In 2020] (westminster.gov.uk)