I was under the impression people actually bought this waste. That would suggest theres someone in Malaysia say, that's in on this smuggling operation? And if they're going to such lengths as smuggling waste, that suggests there is money in it. So is there only money because everything's unregulated and these processors are avoiding disposal costs. Or is more a story of these countries not having the infrastructure to recycle such a huge volume?
Presumably the authorities were previously quiet about it because the importer/smuggler was giving them bribes. And now the dynamics have changed. In any case in Malaysia there was a "regime change", so maybe the importer didn't have his "governmental partners" any more.
The law in Malaysia was changed a few months ago making the importation of trash illegal.
Some of the current ministers are going so far as to brand the owners of these companies as traitors.
Malaysia is beginning to understand the consequences of their environmental decisions, and there is a growing awareness of the impact of palm oil plantations and single use plastics.
Would you go with the 'rich westerners dumping their rubbish on you' narrative? Do you think its a potentially valuable industry that you aren't currently equipped to deal with effectively, or what?
As a westerner I don't really want to be exporting rubbish around the world, but I'm aware that this could be someone's job, and potentially a valuable industry for poorer countries, so I don't want to unilaterally decide to stop it.
Malaysia's economy is fairly developed and the government has decided that the long term environmental impacts are not worth the short term profits.
Malaysia is home to some of the only growing coral reefs in the world, has a growing population of wild Tigers, Panthers, and Elephants.
Ultimately the choice to stop it isn't up to the west, and the decision has already been made.
It's time for the United States and Co. to take out their own garbage.
As far as being a "poorer" country goes, I receive better and more affordable healthcare here than I ever did in the US. I feel safer in KL than k ever did in SF or LA, and homelessness is a rarity instead of a critical issue.
It's about time societies started processing their own trash. If the economics of processing some kinds trash does not turn out great then maybe we should stop/minimize generating such trash?
I was under the impression people actually bought this waste. That would suggest theres someone in Malaysia say, that's in on this smuggling operation? And if they're going to such lengths as smuggling waste, that suggests there is money in it. So is there only money because everything's unregulated and these processors are avoiding disposal costs. Or is more a story of these countries not having the infrastructure to recycle such a huge volume?