Trash Exportation: Global North to Global South

Trash Exportation: Global North to Global South

Autumn Clayton, Julie Cato, Lindsey Bryson, Siddhant Dubey

Photograph by: Mohd Samsul Mohn Said, Getty

Environmental activists march the streets to pressure Congress, Michael Reynolds /The Guardian

When was the last time you threw something away? Probably pretty recently, right? You probably even forgot you did it. It’s not your problem anymore, so why bother thinking about it? There are more important things to think about anyway. Climate change, for example, seems pretty important right now. This prioritization of what we as humans deem “important” in society, especially in the case of environmentalism, has been heavily influenced by the news and media. As residents of the Global North, we are constantly immersed in the internet and social media. Information is continuously flowing and social movements are becoming expedited. The environmental movement is a perfect example of this, as it has evolved into a widespread social and political movement across the world. The rapid growth of media in the Global North has accelerated this evolution by formatting all environmental issues into a “doomsday” point of view, which is what gains the most views/clicks/reads and what generates the most revenue. Thus, the Global North leads the world in advocating for the environment and is constantly pushing the envelope to voice the concerns of our planet. The concerns presented to us through the media, of course. The irony prevails, however, when we observe how the Global North is also simultaneously the largest contributor to these detrimental environmental issues.

The responsibility falls on Global North corporations in particular, leading the world in plastic pollution and trash exportation by a landslide. The Coca-Cola Company, for example, has been the top plastic polluter throughout the world since 2019 (BFFP, 2021). So why aren’t these issues making headlines in the media that is supposedly so concerned with the wellbeing of our planet? While the residents of the Global North fight relentlessly for the environment, the same brand-names that fill our trash cans are fueling the issues right under our noses.

A plastic Coca-Cola bottle floats in the Anacostia River of the U.S., Tim Aubrey /Greenpeace

Obscene wealth and greed of the Global North’s corporations fuels the waste exportation industry. The Global North is the leader in product consumption, but where does the waste of these products go? Single use plastic waste, e-waste, and hazardous waste move from their origin to lower-income countries of the Global South. Global North citizens do not want to see ugly, dangerous dumping sites in their own country, so they send it away where it is no longer a concern to them.

Industrial waste is a huge contributor to air, ground, and water pollution. The citizens of the Global North are acutely aware of the long-term detrimental effects to their health and safety, such as an increased cancer rate in highly polluted areas.

In an attempt to protect themselves, dumping sites are heavily protested under the NIMBY movement. NIMBY, or “not in my backyard,” is a characterization of residents of a community opposing a proposed development near their community. This includes large pollutant producing factories and dumping sites that are then pushed into lower income areas, such as Southeast Asia, that do not have the power or influence to stop the import of hazardous materials.

In Alang, India cruise ships arrive to be demolished, leaving behind scrap metal and dangerous working conditions, Francesca Street/ CNN

E-waste dumps across Southeast Asia release toxic heavy metals and other carcinogenic materials into the ground and water, John Vidal/ Our World

The Global North often does not see the detrimental effects of their gluttony.

In fact, Lawrence Summers, the Chief Economist and VP of Development Economics at the World Bank from 1991 to 1993, said in a private memo: “I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable” (Feichtner et al). Not only is this statement grotesque, but this man had extreme influence over the world economy, and for him to speak this way about the Global South is a poignant example of Global North greed and apathy towards the wellbeing of others. This unempathetic statement from an economic world leader outlines the overall view of the Global North toward the Global South: the Global South exists as a dumping ground for the wealthy and powerful Global North.

Many of the citizens in these countries make money by sorting through the trash for recycling categorization, Nguyen Huy Kham/Reuters

As Lawrence Summers proved, it is American nature to outsource services that are undesirable in the eyes of its citizens with little regard to anyone outside of the U.S.. Many of the goods that American citizens purchase on a day-to-day basis come from developing countries where labor ethics can be and are commonly ignored. It is beneficial for citizens to import these goods because of increased profit. While America and other developed countries benefit from imports from developing countries, they also benefit from exporting unwanted material back to these countries, and the potential benefit is the only thing that many citizens of developed countries focus on.

Many people do not consider how much trash they are producing or where it goes, but if the waste piled up in their locality like it does for many people in Southeast Asia, then their view on waste production would be very different. For developed countries, it is less expensive and easier to export waste to countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand, but the practice is very harmful to the environment, health, and wellbeing of the countries that receive, store, and sort through the trash.

The highest exporters of trash are all in the Global North, while the importing countries are in the Global South. This is not a coincidence. The division between the Global North is primarilly due to the realities of postcolonialism and how the exploitation of countries in the Global South was detrimental to the countries’ domestic wellbeing. The exploitation of these developing countries is almost a direct reflection of colonialism. This is an unfortunate act of neocolonialism, and there is little regard in this process for the wellbeing of people outside of the Global North. Colonialism is also a partial reason for the Global North focus that has developed on a global level. There is an unbalanced weight given to the needs and wants of the U.S. and Europe, while these needs and wants are often granted at the expense of the remaining countries.

A factor that makes trash exportation even less justifiable is that the amount of plastic waste is growing. Although a portion of the trash generated will be recycled, a lot of it will only take up space since it is not biodegradable.

When called out on a map, differences between the biggest exporters and the biggest importers in trash exportation can be seen. Also, the plastic waste generation, especially in the United States is growing. This means there is more waste, and particularly waste that will stay on Earth for decades.

Recycled waste littering the area, Brunel University London

Although trash expotation negatively affects many countries, particularly in the Global South, Malaysia is one of the countries that has been most adversely affected by the flow of waste from the Global North. In fact, they’ve been the world’s largest plastics importer since 2017 with many of these imports being illegal (Reuters). These imports are taken in with the intention of being recycled and sold for a profit, but most of them are of low quality and with a lack of advanced recycling centers, this creates many problems. One of these problems is that the plastics end up having to be burned which leads to toxic gasses being released in the air. Being unable to dispose of the plastics properly also leads to the local water bodies being polluted, making it harder for people to obtain clean drinking water (Wang et al.).

Recently, the Malaysian government instituted measures to stop the harm being caused by the large number of plastic imports. One way that they’re doing this is by sending back a lot of this waste to the countries that it comes from such as England (Hui et al.). However, this isn’t enough to properly manage all the waste that arrives in the country so Malaysian authorities have also introduced plastic waste import licenses as requirements to import plastic waste in order to ensure that companies that import plastic waste are able to properly contain and treat it. The government has also levied taxes on the act of plastic importing in order to discourage the act of importing even further. Plastic recycling plants are now also required to keep extensive records of the plastic they take in. Even with all these regulations in place, many industries in Malaysia have begun to reap benefits from the import of plastics, with packaging leading the pack by far.

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