Exporting Pollution, Colonizing Health

Amid challenges and public apathy toward domestic waste management, Malaysia became the world’s top destination for plastic waste exports in 2018, receiving more than 800,000 tons of plastic waste. China’s ban on solid waste imports redirected waste to new markets, especially in Southeast Asia. The influx of waste into Malaysia, a small country in the Malay Archipelago, led to a sharp rise in illegal recycling, dumping, and burning, causing noticeable pollution. This chapter highlights the impact of plastic waste trade on the lives of Malaysians from 2018 to 2021, and the problems that persist until today. This study unpacks the concept of “waste colonialism” and outlines its social, cultural, and political implications. In-depth interviews were conducted with 40 stakeholders across Peninsular Malaysia, namely in the states of Kedah, Penang, and Selangor. Waste exports to Malaysia affected people not only in terms of health and the environment but also in terms of relationships – worsening graft and illegality and sowing distrust and conflict. The costs of this waste colonialism, where clean air, water, land, labor, and health of recipient countries are “conquered” and “exploited” to the benefit of others, extends beyond pollution. Waste management is a governance, human rights, and environmental justice issue, too often driven by illicit activity and businesses avoiding costs in exporting countries. Plastic waste exporting countries should focus on waste prevention – reduce plastic production and consumption – rather than sending their waste to others, often under the pretext of promoting recycling.